Pakistan to Grant 4,500 Scholarships to Afghan Students

HRW added that these communities are suffering from constant suicide bombings and other unlawful attacks and haven’t even been provided necessary medical care and other assistance for victims and their families.

HRW emphasised that the Taliban authorities should protect at-risk minorities, including the Hazara and Shia, and ensure their rights to access education and worship without fear. They asked the group to consult with communities at risk and civil society groups to protect civilian institutions vulnerable to attack, including schools, hospitals, places of worship, and other community institutions.

The watchdog group also asked the Taliban to fully comply with international humanitarian law, and appropriately prosecute those responsible for grave abuses.

As per the report released, HRW states that since the Taliban took over Afghanistan in August 2021, the Islamic State affiliate has claimed responsibility for 13 attacks against Hazaras and has been linked to at least three more, killing and injuring at least 700 people. The Taliban’s growing crackdown on the media, especially in the provinces, means additional attacks are likely to have gone unreported. The United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA) reported that recent attacks by the group on Shia gatherings in Kabul killed and injured more than 120 people.

“Since the Taliban takeover, ISIS-linked fighters have committed numerous brutal attacks against members of the Hazara community as they go to school, to work, or to pray, without a serious response from the Taliban authorities,” said Fereshta Abbasi, Afghanistan researcher at Human Rights Watch. “The Taliban have an obligation to protect at-risk communities and assist the victims of attacks and their families.”

In October 2021, the Taliban Interior Ministry spokesperson, Saeed Khosty, said that they would ensure security for religious minorities. However, the Taliban do not appear to have provided increased security in Kabul, Mazar-e Sharif, and Kunduz provinces, where attacks have killed hundreds of people since January 2022, HRW said.

“Attacks on Hazara and other religious minorities by the Islamic State of Khorasan Province violate international humanitarian law, which remains applicable in Afghanistan. Deliberate attacks on civilians are war crimes,” stated HRW in the report.

The rights watchdog added that the Taliban’s failure to provide security to at-risk populations and medical and other assistance to survivors and affected families, as well as Taliban policies that violate human rights, particularly those of women and girls, exacerbates the harm these attacks cause.

The report highlighted that attacks have made it difficult, if not impossible, for Hazara and Shia community members to exercise their rights to education, to practice their religion, and to other fundamental freedoms. Many found it difficult to get health care and say they don’t feel safe going out in public. They now avoid social gatherings, public transportation, and other public places.

HRW even called on IS-KP and other armed groups to comply with international humanitarian law, and cease all attacks against civilians and punish commanders responsible for serious abuses.

HRW stressed that there should be adequate support for emergency health care, such as ambulance services and psychosocial (mental health) support along with financial support to survivors of attacks and family members.

Not limiting itself to condemning the attacks, the Rights watchdog also called on global governments engaging with the Taliban to put pressure on the group for better protection of Hazara and Shia communities and encourage and support mechanisms to strengthen accountability for crimes committed in Afghanistan, including against the Hazara and Shia communities.

“All governments should suspend forcible returns to Afghanistan and should look favourably on applications for asylum, and other forms of international protection, for the Hazara and other persecuted ethnic and religious minorities in Afghanistan,” it added.

Taliban Foreign Ministry didn’t rule out future possible attacks on the embassies in Kabul, however, they said that they continue to make sure that the embassy’s activities aren’t disrupted.

Taliban foreign ministry said that the group’s security forces have initiated investigation into the attack.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov has urged the Taliban to identify and punish the perpetrators of the suicide attack near the entrance of the country's embassy in Kabul.

Russian Foreign Ministry confirmed that two employees of the Russian embassy were killed in the attack.

The ministry added that Afghan citizens were also among the victims.

So far, no group has claimed responsibility for today’s suicide attack in Kabul.

The ministry added that Afghan citizens were also among the victims.

Russian Foreign Ministry stressed that the Russian embassy in Kabul is in close contact with the Taliban's security establishment regarding the attack.

Tajik-Russian Foreign Ministers Meet

Meanwhile, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov discussed Monday's suicide attack with Tajik Foreign Minister Sirojiddin Muhriddin in Moscow.

According to the Russian media, Lavrov said that following this attack, security measures have increased around the Russian embassy in Kabul.

The foreign minister of Tajikistan told reporters that the perpetrators of this attack will be identified. He added that they “will take collective action”.

The foreign ministers of the two countries paid tribute to the victims of today’s attack in Kabul.

The United States Geological Survey (USGS) stated that a 5.3-magnitude earthquake shook the areas near the city of Jalalabad on Monday morning.

Mohammad Nasim Haqqani, the spokesperson of the Taliban Natural Disaster Management Authority, said that the initial reports of casualties from the earthquake were six people dead and nine injured.

Afghanistan is still dealing with the consequences of a severe earthquake in June that killed more than 1,000 people in Khost and Paktika provinces.

A higher death toll is expected, with various media outlet reports saying that between eight and 10 people had been killed, while some security sources have stated that more than 20 people have been killed and wounded in the blast.

Earlier, Russian state-owned news agency RIA reported that a diplomat and an embassy security guard had been wounded in the bombing which occurred near Darulaman Road in western Kabul.

RIA said the explosion went off when a Russian diplomat came out to people waiting outside to call out the names of candidates for visas.

According to a statement by the Russian Foreign Ministry, the explosion occurred 'in the immediate vicinity of the entrance to the consular section of the Russian Embassy' in the Afghan capital.

“An unknown militant set off an explosive device,” the ministry said. “As a result of the attack, two members of the diplomatic mission were killed, and there are also victims among Afghan citizens.”

Khalid Zadran, Taliban’s spokesperson for the Kabul police, said at least one civilian was killed and that 10 others were wounded. Zadran said an investigation was underway, and that the area was blocked off by police.

Taliban officials had earlier said that a suicide bomber had detonated explosives near the entrance of the Russian Embassy in Kabul, adding that the attacker was shot dead by armed guards as he approached the gate.

There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the explosion.

Several residents of Kabul's district 6 told Afghanistan International that around 10:50 am, a strong blast wave jolted their homes.