Revenge Killings Could Have Started Soon After Taliban’s Takeover, Says Group’s Deputy PM

Abdul Salam Hanafi, the Taliban’s deputy prime minister, said that the group’s fighters could have engaged in revenge killings as soon as the takeover of Afghanistan in August 2021.

However, Hanafi claimed that the decree of general amnesty by the group’s leader prevented the revenge killings by the Taliban fighters.

On Sunday, Hanafi reminded the nation that according to the order of the Taliban leader, no one should take revenge based on the last 20 years of animosity and differences.

The Taliban’s deputy prime minister also added that the amnesty decree has been implemented so far.

Hanafi’s statement comes while the United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA), in a recent report, confirmed that in the past two years, the UN agency has recorded 800 cases of human rights violations against former Afghan security forces by the Taliban fighters.

UNAMA added that it has recorded at least 218 cases of killings of former Afghan government officials and members of former security forces by the Taliban, and the perpetrators of their murders have not been arrested.

UNAMA emphasised that except for the recommendation of the Taliban leader, the group has not issued any written decree or document about general amnesty granted to Afghan citizens.