According to Human Rights Watch, Taliban militants advancing in Ghazni, Kandahar, and other Afghan provinces have summarily killed captured soldiers, police officers, and civilians with alleged connections to the Afghan government.
Taliban forces have allegedly identified individuals who served with the Afghan National Security Forces in places they invade, according to locals from several districts. Former police and military personnel are required to register with them and produce a document purportedly guaranteeing their safety. The Taliban have held some of these individuals incommunicado and, in some cases, executed them.
After Afghan government forces retreated from Ghazni, locals reported Taliban fighters invaded their neighbourhoods on July 11 and searched house to house, presumably looking for anyone who had formerly worked for the provincial or district government or security forces. They detained some of the residents, some of whom were eventually released after providing guarantees that they would not collaborate with the government.
According to a resident of the Naw Abad district, when Taliban fighters came in his neighbourhood, they broadcast it over the loudspeakers of the local mosques:
“They said that the area is under their control, and they are celebrating their victory, that people should obey them. They said that government employees, except the military, should come to get a letter which is valid for 10 days and no one would be able to hurt them if they have that. They must renew the letter every 10 days.”
Detention of civilians is prohibited under international humanitarian law unless it is absolutely essential for urgent security reasons. Retaliatory detentions are likewise forbidden as a form of collective punishment. All sides to the conflict, including the Taliban, are being investigated by the International Criminal Court (ICC) for war crimes and serious human rights violations.
Washington Center For Human Rights urges the US administration to consider steps that prevent the Taliban from continuing their ongoing violations against human rights in Afghanistan.