Amnesty International in its recent report revealed the brutal killings of Hazara people, an ethnic minority in Afghanistan, at the hands of the Taliban in early July.
The Taliban tortured and killed nine men of the Hazara minority in Afghanistan and looted their homes in Ghazni province in early July, human rights group Amnesty International said.
Amnesty International spoke to several people who were witnesses to the brutal killings that took place between July 4 and July 5 in the village of Mundarakht, Malistan district. The report said six Hazara men were shot while three of them were tortured to death.
The Hazara community is Afghanistan's third largest ethnic group, which mainly practises Shia Islam. It has long faced discrimination and persecution in predominantly Sunni Afghanistan and Pakistan, reports BBC.
Amnesty's secretary-general Agnès Callamard said, "The cold-blooded brutality of these killings is a reminder of the Taliban's past record, and a horrifying indicator of what Taliban rule may bring."
On July 3, 2021, fighting intensified in Ghazni province between Afghan forces and the Taliban. Following the violence, about 30 families fled their homes to take shelter in traditional iloks, their summer grazing land, in the mountains.
However, due to shortage of food, a few men and women went back to their homes to collect supplies. It was then that they saw how the Taliban looted and destroyed their homes.
Some men who passed through Mundarakht on their way home were ambushed. They said the Taliban were awaiting their return.
Eyewitnesses said how a 63-year-old man working for the Afghan government was strangled to death with his own scarf and his arm muscles were sliced off.
Many bodies were thrown into nearby creeks, while those with bruises and broken arms and legs were buried.
Speaking to Amnesty International, one eyewitness, who assisted with the burials, said, “We asked the Taliban why they did this, and they told us, ‘When it is the time of conflict, everyone dies, it doesn’t matter if you have guns or not. It is the time of war.’"
"These targeted killings are proof that ethnic and religious minorities remain at particular risk under Taliban rule in Afghanistan," Agnès Callamard.
The report further added how mobile phone services were snapped in those areas captured by the Taliban to prevent information about the killing from passing around.
Amnesty International called on the United Nations and urged it "to adopt an emergency resolution demanding that the Taliban respect international human rights law, and ensure the safety of all Afghans regardless of their ethnic background or religious beliefs".
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The Taliban tortured and killed nine men of the Hazara minority in Afghanistan and looted their homes in Ghazni province in early July, human rights group Amnesty International said.
Amnesty International spoke to several people who were witnesses to the brutal killings that took place between July 4 and July 5 in the village of Mundarakht, Malistan district. The report said six Hazara men were shot while three of them were tortured to death.
The Hazara community is Afghanistan's third largest ethnic group, which mainly practises Shia Islam. It has long faced discrimination and persecution in predominantly Sunni Afghanistan and Pakistan, reports BBC.
Amnesty's secretary-general Agnès Callamard said, "The cold-blooded brutality of these killings is a reminder of the Taliban's past record, and a horrifying indicator of what Taliban rule may bring."
On July 3, 2021, fighting intensified in Ghazni province between Afghan forces and the Taliban. Following the violence, about 30 families fled their homes to take shelter in traditional iloks, their summer grazing land, in the mountains.
However, due to shortage of food, a few men and women went back to their homes to collect supplies. It was then that they saw how the Taliban looted and destroyed their homes.
Some men who passed through Mundarakht on their way home were ambushed. They said the Taliban were awaiting their return.
Eyewitnesses said how a 63-year-old man working for the Afghan government was strangled to death with his own scarf and his arm muscles were sliced off.
Many bodies were thrown into nearby creeks, while those with bruises and broken arms and legs were buried.
Speaking to Amnesty International, one eyewitness, who assisted with the burials, said, “We asked the Taliban why they did this, and they told us, ‘When it is the time of conflict, everyone dies, it doesn’t matter if you have guns or not. It is the time of war.’"
"These targeted killings are proof that ethnic and religious minorities remain at particular risk under Taliban rule in Afghanistan," Agnès Callamard.
The report further added how mobile phone services were snapped in those areas captured by the Taliban to prevent information about the killing from passing around.
Amnesty International called on the United Nations and urged it "to adopt an emergency resolution demanding that the Taliban respect international human rights law, and ensure the safety of all Afghans regardless of their ethnic background or religious beliefs".
Strangled, muscles sliced off: Nine men of Hazara minority killed by Taliban in Afghanistan
Amnesty International in its recent report revealed the brutal killings of Hazara people, an ethnic minority in Afghanistan, at the hands of the Taliban in early July.
