Afghanistan facing widespread humanitarian crisis
Executive director of UN World Food Programme David Beasley discusses the humanitarian crisis in Afghanistan and how the economic impact of COVID has increased world hunger
The United Nations reportedly has received "credible allegations" that more than 100 former Afghanistan government officials, troops and those who worked with coalition forces have been killed since the Taliban took control of the country in mid-August, despite assurances from the militant group that they would remain unharmed.
The chilling revelations emerged in a report that U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has delivered to the Security Council, according to the Associated Press.
"As I appeal to the international community to step up support for the people of Afghanistan, I make an equally urgent plea to the Taliban leadership to recognize and protect the fundamental human rights that every person shares," Guterres told the U.N. Security Council last week.
Newly graduated Afghan National Army personnel march during their graduation ceremony after a three-month training program at the Afghan Military Academy in Kabul, Afghanistan, in November 2020. (AP/Rahmat Gul)
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In the report obtained Sunday by The Associated Press, Guterres said that "more than two-thirds" of the victims were alleged to result from extrajudicial killings by the Taliban or its affiliates, despite the Taliban’s announcement of "general amnesties" for those affiliated with the former government and U.S.-led coalition forces.
The U.N. political mission in Afghanistan also 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, Guterres said in the report to the U.N. Security Council.
He added that despite Taliban assurances, the U.N. political mission has also received credible allegations "of enforced disappearances and other violations impacting the right to life and physical integrity" of former government and coalition members.
United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres speaks during an interview at the U.N. headquarters in New York City on Jan. 20. (AP/Robert Bumsted)
Guterres said human rights defenders and media workers also continue "to come under attack, intimidation, harassment, arbitrary arrest, ill-treatment and killings."
Eight civil society activists were killed, including three by the Taliban and three by Islamic State extremists, and 10 were subjected to temporary arrests, beatings and threats by the Taliban, he said. Two journalists were killed — one by ISIS — and two were injured by unknown armed men.
Taliban representative Anas Haqqani sits ahead of a meeting, in Oslo, Norway, on Jan. 24. Western diplomats were meeting with Afghan women’s rights activists and human rights defenders in Oslo ahead of the first official talks with the Taliban in Europe since the Taliban took over in August.
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The secretary-general said the U.N. missions documented 44 cases of temporary arrests, beatings and threats of intimidation, 42 of them by the Taliban.
The Taliban overran most of Afghanistan as U.S. and NATO forces were in the final stages of their chaotic withdrawal from the country after 20 years. They entered Kabul on Aug. 15 without any resistance from the Afghan army or the country’s president, Ashraf Ghani, who fled.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.