Amnesty International Concerned About Summary Executions Of Civilians In Balkhab

According to Afghanistan International's ground sources, the clashes between invading Taliban and Mawlawi Mahdi’s forces in Balkhab district have ended with around 8,000 Taliban forces having been relocated to the district.

After taking over the district center, the Taliban forces have started house-to-house search operations of the residents.

Earlier, on Saturday, other media reports revealed that the Taliban had shot dead seven civilians in Balkhab district.

But local sources, who spoke to Afghanistan International on the condition of anonymity fearing the Taliban’s retaliation, said that on Saturday Taliban fighters shot dead three civilians in the Tarkhuj area of Bazaar-e-Naw and five others in the Jah Mirak area near Qom Kotal of Balkhab district.

Three days after the fierce fighting in Balkhab, the clashes have now ended, and Mawlawi Mahdi's men have fled the area.

According to Afghanistan International's sources, telephone services in the district center have been cut off and more civilians are likely to be killed by the Taliban.

Taliban officials have not yet commented on the killing of civilians in Balkhab.

The Taliban sent thousands of troops to Balkhab district in Sar-e-Pul province late last week to crack down on Mawlawi Mahdi, the group’s only Hazara commander.

Mahdi was the only Hazara Taliban commander who briefly served as the Taliban’s intelligence chief in Bamiyan after the group took control of Afghanistan on August 15, 2021. After being removed from this position in January 2022, he went to his hometown in Balkhab district and parted with the Taliban due to the absence of Hazaras and Shiites in the Taliban government.

The bank has stressed that auction winners should settle their accounts by the end of Saturday.

Taliban officials at the Central Bank of Afghanistan have auctioned off millions of dollars over the past 10 months to control the value of the Afghanistan currency against the US Dollar.

The Central Bank of Afghanistan has announced that the current exchange rate of 1 US Dollar is equivalent to 80 Afghanis.

Sources told Afghanistan International on the condition of anonymity that the Taliban entered the old bazaar of Balkhab district, where the fight rages on.

The old bazaar is located near Qom Kotal and both are part of Balkhab district of Sar-e-Pul province.

Some sources close to Mawlawi Mahdi have claimed that the Taliban forces are now under siege by the local commander. However, there has been no official account from the Taliban regarding the clashes in this northern district even after three days.

Also, there is no official figure for the casualties of the Balkhab battle. Local sources say that Taliban helicopters have been hovering over Balkhab district since Friday, targeting forces affiliated with Mawlawi Mahdi.

Meanwhile, sources told Afghanistan International that the two sides are currently engaged in regrouping their forces as the war intensifies.

Local sources who spoke on the condition of anonymity in Bamiyan province said that the Taliban dispatched a group of fighters from the province to Sar-e-Pul. Other sources aware of the development in Sar-e- Pol province confirmed that about 60 Uzbek fighters have recently joined the Balkhab battle to support Mawlawi Mahdi’s forces. Also, in recent days, the Taliban has sent military convoys from the northern provinces to suppress Mawlawi Mahdi in Balkhab district of Sar-e-Pul province.

Mawlawi Mahdi was the sole Hazara commander of the Taliban who served the group as Bamiyan’s provincial intelligence director shortly after the group took over Afghanistan following the collapse of Kabul on August 15, 2021. In January 2022, the Taliban removed Mahdi from Bamiyan, who moved to his hometown of Balkhab district in Sar-e-Pul province and parted with the group.

He later expressed dissatisfaction with the group for "the absence of Hazaras and Shiite participation in the Taliban government”.

The World Hazara Council added that the Taliban intended to enter Balkhab to target Hazara mosques, hospitals, and crowded areas as they began their operations in the district since June 23 to suppress Mawlawi Mahdi, their only Hazara commander.

The World Hazara Council has stressed that the continuing violence in the district has had catastrophic consequences for civilians and residents in the area. "The council fears that as violence and tensions escalate, a genocide by the Taliban looms large for the Hazara community in Balkhab," the statement read.

The council called on the international community to pay attention to the Taliban attack and the possibility of violence by the group against civilians in the area. The World Hazara Council has called for an immediate end to the Taliban attacks on civilians in Balkhab.

The Taliban had committed the "massacre of Hazara civilians" in Mazar-e-Sharif in 1998, in serious violation of international humanitarian law, the council added.

Over the past few days, the Taliban sent thousands of troops from Afghanistan’s northern provinces to suppress Mawlawi Mahdi in Balkhab district of Sar-e-Pul province. Several fighters have reportedly been killed and injured in clashes between the two sides.

Mawlawi Mehdi is the only Hazara Taliban commander who moved to Balkhab district and left the group after he was ousted from the Taliban’s directorate of intelligence in Bamiyan. The Taliban have now sent thousands of troops to Balkhab to suppress the group’s former commander.

Travel exemptions permitting 15 Taliban officials to go abroad for negotiations were set to expire Monday.

Abdul Ghani Baradar, Abdul Salam Hanafi, Amir Khan Muttaqi and Sher Abbas Stanikzai are the prominent figures of Taliban whose travel exemption has been extended for three months. Diplomatic sources told AFP that the travel ban on two Taliban members is in response to the heavy restrictions the hardliners have imposed on Afghan women.

The diplomats told AFP that after difficult negotiations, Taliban’s sanction committee in the United Nations agreed to the travel exemption of 13 Taliban senior members. Meanwhile, some countries have been supporting cancelation of travel exemption for all Taliban leaders due to extreme violation of women’s rights, however, many objected to this move.

Economic sanctions, including trade and suspension of these individuals’ assets, military sanctions and military interaction with these Taliban officials, remains in place. The travel ban on some of the Taliban’s officials was lifted by Donald Trump, the former president of United States in 2019, to pave the way for peace negotiations between the US and the Taliban.

The travel exemption list published by the United Nations includes Shahabuddin Delawar, Taliban’s minister of mines; Khairullah Khair Khah, Taliban’s minister of information and culture; Abdul Haq Wasiq, Taliban’s chief of intelligence; Noorullah Noori, Taliban’s minister of borders and tribal affairs; Abdul Latif Mansoor, Taliban’s minister of energy and water; Mullah Fazil Mazloom, Taliban’s deputy minister of defense; Mawlawi Abdul Kabir, Taliban’s political affairs deputy prime minister; Din Mohammad Hanif, Taliban’s minister of economy and Noor Mohammad Saqib, Taliban’s minister of Hajj.