Enough Reasons for Presence of Terrorist Groups in Afghanistan, Says Pak Foreign Ministry

The international body added that the attack is part of a wider pattern of unlawful targeted killings of people whom the Taliban perceives as adversaries, in this case being both members of the Hazara community and those who were associated with the former Afghan government. Amnesty stated that the violent deaths are further shocking proof that the Taliban continue to persecute, torture and extrajudicially execute Hazara people.

Amnesty International urged the Taliban to investigate these killings and ensure that those responsible are prosecuted in accordance with international human rights obligations and standards.

It added that if the de facto authorities cannot provide justice, it called on the Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court to open full investigations into all cases of extrajudicial executions. It also called for an independent accountability mechanism in and for Afghanistan.”

“The Taliban must immediately end this cruel pattern of targeted killings and, as the de facto authorities, ensure the protection of all Afghans,” said Agnès Callamard, Amnesty International’s Secretary General.

Citing another example, the report stated that on 26 June 2022, the Taliban detained and unlawfully executed four men during a night raid operation in search of a former security official. The body of at least one of those executed showed signs of torture. A woman and a 12-year-old girl were also killed during the raid.

Amnesty International documented similar extrajudicial executions of Hazara people in Ghazni province in July 2021, and Daykundi province in August 2021. “Despite publicly promising not to target former government officials, the Taliban have still not investigated or prosecuted anyone for the killings,” the report said.

Stating examples of various cases of extrajudicial killings and arbitrary arrests and torture, Amnesty International said that it believes the Taliban justification is a pretext for targeting ethnic minorities and soldiers associated with the former government.

It asked the Taliban to immediately cease these acts of revenge and ensure employees of the former government and their families can live safely in Afghanistan.

Citing Taliban’s commitment to uphold Afghanistan’s women, its girls, its religious minorities and ethnic minorities’ rights, Price said that the Taliban has not lived up to these commitments.

He added that the religious minorities in Afghanistan have faced a complex set of threats not only from the Taliban, which has not shown the tolerance and inclusivity that they had promised, but also from the likes of ISIS-K. “The number of attacks that we have seen attributable to ISIS-K against, for example, Shia mosques, Shia worshipers, individuals who were doing nothing more than exercising their universal right to freedom of religion, to freedom of belief, who have been killed in doing so. That is a testament to the threat that is faced by religious minorities in Afghanistan,” he said.

Maintaining that the US will continue to see to it that groups like al-Qaeda and groups like ISIS-K are not in a position to pose a threat beyond Afghan borders to the United States, he said that it is also incumbent on the Taliban, consistent with the U.S.-Taliban agreement, but also the other commitments they have made to the people of Afghanistan, to do all they can to take on the threat posed by al-Qaeda, to take on the threat posed by ISIS-K, not only beyond Afghanistan’s borders but to the very people of Afghanistan, including to its religious minorities.

However, he added that the US will keep supporting the Afghan people during the dire economic times as the largest donor of humanitarian aid to the people of Afghanistan. “We have demonstrated that we’re able to fulfill our enduring commitments to the Afghan people using the various diplomatic tools at our disposal and with exceptional help from our partners like Qatar, the UAE, and our European allies and others,” he added.

He said that the purpose of the ISIS fighters’ deployment is to wage terrorist attacks, adding that the situation in Afghanistan is tense and threatens Central Asia.

According to Sidorov, who addressed a press conference on Thursday, the presence of terrorist groups, including ISIS in northern Afghanistan, coupled with poverty, unemployment, economic crisis, and hunger in the country will lead to increasing instability in Central Asia.

Russia, Armenia, Belarus, Tajikistan, Kazakhstan, and Kyrgyzstan are members of the Collective Security Treaty Organization.

In the past year, these countries held several military exercises on the borders of Tajikistan and Uzbekistan near Afghanistan.

The meeting had been organised by the Austrian Institute for International Affairs and the participants are all politicians opposing the Taliban.

The meeting will be held behind closed doors with the agenda of discussing cohesion and coordination for the future of Afghanistan.

After the Taliban took control of Afghanistan, this is the first time that a European country is hosting a conference of politicians and opponents of the Taliban.

Ahmad Massoud, the leader of the National Resistance Front (NRF), which leads an armed resistance against the Taliban, is the most significant participant attending the meeting.

The Taliban had announced general amnesty two days after taking over Afghanistan on August 15, 2021. According to the Taliban’s amnesty, none of the Taliban members have the right to arrest, harass and torture the former employees, including members of the armed forces of the previous government.

However, so far, many people have been murdered in targeted killings, most of whom have been soldiers of the previous government.

The Taliban has always denied claims that they have killed soldiers of the previous government after taking power in Afghanistan, but it is for the first time that one of the most senior Taliban leaders has confessed to the targeted killings of Afghans by the Taliban members.

It is, however, not clear when and where the Taliban interior minister delivered the speech.

Haqqani, who according to the leaked audio clip, is speaking in an apparent meeting with some Taliban commanders, stressed, "We will reform our selves, you promise that you will reform yourself. We will not embarrass each other, and you will not bother the Muslim nation unnecessarily."

He added, "I shout that it's safe and there's amnesty, but still, someone rises up and kills someone at a checkpoint. All my words [about general amnesty] are [proven] to be lies.”

Haqqani also criticised some other aspects of Taliban commanders’ behaviour, including their demand for supplies. He said, "We used to call out during difficult times that we need to organise [get fighters] for Nangarhar, Kunduz, and Mazar-e-Sharif; how many people could be found? No one. But today, they are coming and asking for supplies for 2,000 people or 1,000 people.”

He then added, "For God's sake, I bring wheat and grains from Bangladesh, India, Pakistan, and Iran for you to eat. So, you too have a little pity."

Haqqani’s comments about Taliban’s breaking of general amnesty comes at a time when the United Nation Assistance Mission (UNAMA) also emphasised in its first report on the human rights situation that the Taliban has not implemented the general amnesty decree of the group’s leader.

In its report, UNAMA said that it had recorded at least 160 extrajudicial killings of former government and security officials by the Taliban between August 15, 2021, and June 15, 2022.