Since the Taliban took over the country on August 15, the UN has received “credible allegations” that more than 100 former members of the Afghan government, security forces, and those who worked with international troops have been killed, according to UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres.
Despite the Taliban’s announcement of “general amnesties” for those affiliated with the former government and US-led coalition forces, Guterres said that “more than two-thirds” of the victims were alleged to be the result of extrajudicial killings by the Taliban or its affiliates, according to a report obtained by The Associated Press on Sunday.
According to Guterres’ report to the UN Security Council, the UN political mission in Afghanistan received “credible allegations of extrajudicial killings of at least 50 individuals suspected of affiliation with ISIL-KP,” the Islamic State extremist group operating in Afghanistan.
Despite Taliban assurances, he added, the UN political mission has received credible allegations of “enforced disappearances and other violations affecting the right to life and physical integrity” of former government and coalition members.
Human rights defenders and journalists, according to Guterres, continue to face “assaults, intimidation, harassment, arbitrary arrest, ill-treatment, and killings.”
He said eight civil society activists were killed, three by the Taliban and three by Islamic State extremists, and ten were detained, beaten, and threatened by the Taliban.
Two journalists were killed, one by IS and the other two by unidentified armed men.
According to the secretary-general, UN missions documented 44 cases of temporary detentions, beatings, and intimidation threats, 42 of which were perpetrated by the Taliban.
As US and NATO forces were preparing to leave Afghanistan after 20 years, the Taliban took control of the majority of the country.
They marched into Kabul on August 15 without encountering any resistance from the Afghan army or Ashraf Ghani, the country’s president, who fled.
The Taliban initially promised a general amnesty for former government officials and international forces, as well as tolerance and inclusion for women and ethnic minorities.
The Taliban, on the other hand, have reintroduced restrictions on women and appointed an all-male government, which has angered the international community.
When the Taliban took power, Afghanistan’s aid-dependent economy was already in trouble, and the international community froze its assets abroad and cut off aid, recalling the Taliban’s reputation for brutality and refusal to educate girls and allow women to work during its 1996-2001 rule.
Guterres said: “The situation in Afghanistan remains precarious and uncertain six months after the Taliban takeover as the multiple political, socio-economic and humanitarian shocks reverberate across the country.”
He said Afghanistan is currently dealing with a number of issues, including a growing humanitarian crisis, a massive economic contraction, the crippling of its banking and financial systems, the worst drought in 27 years, and the Taliban’s failure to form an inclusive government and restore girls’ and women’s rights to education and work.
“An estimated 22.8 million people are projected to be in `crisis’ and `emergency’ levels of food insecurity until March 2022,” the UN chief said.
“Almost 9 million of these will be at `emergency’ levels of food insecurity -– the highest number in the world. Half of all children under five are facing acute malnutrition.”
Since the Taliban took control, Guterres reported a “significant decrease” in the overall number of conflict-related security incidents as well as civilian casualties.
Between August 19 and December 31, the UN recorded 985 security-related incidents, down 91% from the same period in 2020, he said.
According to him, 75 percent of all recorded incidents occurred in the eastern, central, southern, and western regions, with Nangarhar, Kabul, Kunar, and Kandahar being the most conflict-affected provinces.
Despite the decrease in violence, Guterres stated that the Taliban still face a number of challenges, including increased attacks on their members.
“Some are attributed to the National Resistance Front comprising some Afghan opposition figures, and those associated with the former government,” he said. “These groups have been primarily operating in Panjshir Province and Baghlan’s Andarab District but have not made significant territorial inroads” though “armed clashes are regularly documented, along with forced displacement and communication outages.”
Internal Taliban tensions along ethnic lines and competition for jobs, according to Guterres, have also resulted in violence, citing armed clashes between Taliban forces in Bamyan city on November 4.
The secretary-general proposed priorities for the UN political mission in the current environment, urged international assistance to prevent widespread hunger and the country’s economic collapse, and urged the Taliban to respect women’s and human rights.
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