Taliban accused of killing 20 civilians in Panjshir Valley | Taliban

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The Taliban are accused of killing 20 civilians in Afghanistan’s Panjshir Valley, with what appears to be the killing of a man in military uniform filmed on video.

The Panjshir Valley was the last district to hold on to the Taliban when they came to power last month, as anti-Taliban opposition forces mobilized briefly before overrunning.

The BBC described a videotaped incident in which a man in military uniform was surrounded by Taliban fighters who bystanders insisted he was a civilian. Amidst the sound of gunfire, the man was seen hanging on the ground.

According to the report, the BBC said it had heard about 20 similar incidents involving civilians in the area following the Taliban takeover.

One of the victims was a shop owner and father of two named Abdul Sami, who sources said refused to flee as the Taliban advanced. He was arrested and accused of selling phone cards to anti-Taliban fighters and his body was later dumped near his home.

The claim emerged as a senior Afghan diplomat from the previous government on Tuesday described the deteriorating human rights situation in his country, saying that women’s rights were disappearing under Taliban rule.

“The people of Afghanistan need to act more than ever,” Ambassador Nasir Ahmed Andisha told the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva, calling on the council to set up a fact-finding mission to monitor Taliban actions in the country.

The reports come on the heels of other well-documented cases of revenge killings by the Islamist militant group during their lightning advance across the country and in the wake of their seizure of power.

In August, Amnesty International detailed the massacre of nine ethnic Hazara men after Taliban fighters took control of the Afghan province of Ghazni in July.

Eyewitnesses gave harrowing accounts of the killings that took place between 4 and 6 July in the village of Mandracht in Malistan province, including how three of them were tortured to death, including a man who was strangled by his head covering.

On Monday, the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Michelle Bachelet, described “credible allegations of retaliatory killings of a number of former Afghan National Security Forces personnel, and reports of officials who served in previous administrations and their family members being arbitrarily detained.”

In some cases those responsible were released and in others they were found dead.

It also cited “multiple” allegations that the Taliban conducted house-to-house searches for former government officials and “people who collaborated with US security forces and companies.”

Concerns about Taliban violations of its human rights promises come as Qatar warned on Tuesday that it would not take responsibility for Kabul airport without “clear” agreements with all concerned, including the Taliban, about its operations.

Doha has become a key mediator in Afghanistan after US forces withdrew last month, helping to evacuate thousands of foreigners and Afghans, engaging new Taliban rulers and supporting operations at Kabul airport.

Qatar’s Minister of Foreign Affairs, Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani, said in a press briefing.

“Now the situation is still [under] negotiate.”

Since the US withdrawal, Qatar Airways planes have made several flights to Kabul, providing aid and representatives to Doha and transporting foreign passport holders.

The two-decade American intervention in Afghanistan ended with a rapid airlift of more than 120,000 people from Kabul as the Taliban returned to power.

The United States withdrew its last troops from Afghanistan on August 30, ending its longest war before the anniversary of the September 11, 2001 attacks that led to its invasion.

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