US, West condemn Taliban over ‘summary killings’ of ex-soldiers and police

In the aftermath of the Human Rights Watch’s explosive report that claimed that the Taliban fighters had ‘summarily killed’ more than 100 former Afghan police and intelligence officers, the US, and its Western allies and partners including UK, EU, Australia, Japan and others have launched condemnation against the Taliban. “We are deeply concerned by reports of summary killings and enforced disappearances of former members of the Afghan security forces as documented by Human Rights Watch and others,” read a joint statement by US and the allies, published by US Department of State on Saturday.

“We underline that the alleged actions constitute serious human rights abuses and contradict the Taliban’s announced amnesty,” the group of 22 nations collectively said in the joint statement, adding that Taliban’s newly formed government must ensure that an amnesty was enforced throughout the ranks of the former Afghan service members. 

"We will continue to measure the Taliban by their actions," the group of nations said.

Scores of ex-soldiers executed by Taliban

Human Rights Watch group in its damning report earlier yesterday claimed that scores of ex-soldiers have been executed by the Taliban brutally since mid-August. There have been forced disappearances of former members of the Afghan security forces. The 25-page document, accessed by The Associated Press claimed that dozens of military personnel, police, intelligence service members, and militia that went missing after the Taliban took over the political reins of Kabul, were mercilessly executed following the collapse of the US-backed Ashraf Ghani government.

“Taliban forces have hunted down former officers using government employment records and have targeted those who surrendered and received letters guaranteeing their safety,” AP reported citing the Human Rights watch’s newly made claims. 

In some cases, said the Human Rights group, Taliban commanders prepared lists of personnel to be targeted as they committed what they described—“unforgivable acts”. “The pattern of killings has sown terror throughout Afghanistan, as no one associated with the former government can feel secure they have escaped the threat of reprisal,” Human Rights Watch said in the report.

Taliban’s commanders asked the surrendering security personnel to register with authorities for a letter of safety, and used the data and screenings to later arrest and ‘summarily execute’ them. The former security personnel were either made to forcibly disappear or their bodies were recovered by the relatives or communities to find at some point, the group stated. "The Taliban have also carried out abusive search operations, including night raids, to apprehend and, at times, forcibly disappear suspected former officials," it went on to add.