Islamabad : Afghanistan Taliban The regime is targeting civilians in the northern Panjshiro The province considers it part of a national resistance force to gain access to suspects (NRF), an anti-Taliban military coalition that includes members of the former Northern Coalition, soldiers and top civilian-military officials from the previous US-sponsored regime.
The Panjshir-based NRF is headed by Ahmed Masood, the son of an anti-Taliban Tajik leader. Ahmed Shah Masoodiwho was assassinated in 2001.
Prior to the Taliban’s takeover of Afghanistan, Panjshir has been the only province in the country that has remained invincible since the country’s invasion by the former Soviet Union.
However, after the Taliban seized power in mid-August 2021, clouds of war began to loom over him.
After the fall of Kabul, many anti-Taliban forces were trained by the US and nato The forces of the previous regime fled to Panjshir, a stronghold of anti-Taliban resistance, and joined the Masood-led NRF to continue their armed struggle against the Taliban.
The Taliban wanted a voluntary surrender for the province, but at the NRF’s refusal, they invaded it in September 2021, but are still struggling to establish their authority over Panjshir.
Since last month, fighting has intensified in the province, with NRF forces attacking Taliban units and outposts. The attacks prompted the Taliban to deploy thousands of troops, which launched a search operation targeting people they allege are NRF supporters.
“Taliban forces in Panjshir have resorted to beating civilians in response to fighting against the NRF,” Patricia GossmanAssociate Asia Director at Human Rights Watch said.
“The Taliban’s failure to punish those responsible for serious misconduct in its ranks over a long period of time puts more civilians at risk,” Gossman said.
A human rights advocate who interviewed several former detainees last week told HRW that Taliban security forces have detained around 80 residents in Panjshir’s Khenj district and are beating them up for information about the NRF.
After several days, rights advocates said, the Taliban released 70, but continued to hold 10 people whose relatives they accuse of being members of a resistance force, a form of collective punishment.
“In Panjshir, Taliban forces have imposed collective punishment and defying the security to which the captives deserve,” Gosman said. “This is the latest example of Taliban abuses during fighting in the region 10 months after the Taliban came to power.”
According to HRW, the former detainees said that around 100 others were kept in the district jail, who allegedly had links with the NRF.
“No one has access to their family or lawyers. Others are kept in informal detention facilities,” the report claimed, adding that denying detainees access to lawyers and family members is restricted and increases the risk of torture and forced disappearances.
Human rights groups and the local and international press have reported that the whereabouts of some of the Taliban detainees in Panjshir have not been disclosed, and that some have been killed with suspected links to the NRF.
In some places, the bodies of those killed are displayed as a clear warning to others.
The Panjshir-based NRF is headed by Ahmed Masood, the son of an anti-Taliban Tajik leader. Ahmed Shah Masoodiwho was assassinated in 2001.
Prior to the Taliban’s takeover of Afghanistan, Panjshir has been the only province in the country that has remained invincible since the country’s invasion by the former Soviet Union.
However, after the Taliban seized power in mid-August 2021, clouds of war began to loom over him.
After the fall of Kabul, many anti-Taliban forces were trained by the US and nato The forces of the previous regime fled to Panjshir, a stronghold of anti-Taliban resistance, and joined the Masood-led NRF to continue their armed struggle against the Taliban.
The Taliban wanted a voluntary surrender for the province, but at the NRF’s refusal, they invaded it in September 2021, but are still struggling to establish their authority over Panjshir.
Since last month, fighting has intensified in the province, with NRF forces attacking Taliban units and outposts. The attacks prompted the Taliban to deploy thousands of troops, which launched a search operation targeting people they allege are NRF supporters.
“Taliban forces in Panjshir have resorted to beating civilians in response to fighting against the NRF,” Patricia GossmanAssociate Asia Director at Human Rights Watch said.
“The Taliban’s failure to punish those responsible for serious misconduct in its ranks over a long period of time puts more civilians at risk,” Gossman said.
A human rights advocate who interviewed several former detainees last week told HRW that Taliban security forces have detained around 80 residents in Panjshir’s Khenj district and are beating them up for information about the NRF.
After several days, rights advocates said, the Taliban released 70, but continued to hold 10 people whose relatives they accuse of being members of a resistance force, a form of collective punishment.
“In Panjshir, Taliban forces have imposed collective punishment and defying the security to which the captives deserve,” Gosman said. “This is the latest example of Taliban abuses during fighting in the region 10 months after the Taliban came to power.”
According to HRW, the former detainees said that around 100 others were kept in the district jail, who allegedly had links with the NRF.
“No one has access to their family or lawyers. Others are kept in informal detention facilities,” the report claimed, adding that denying detainees access to lawyers and family members is restricted and increases the risk of torture and forced disappearances.
Human rights groups and the local and international press have reported that the whereabouts of some of the Taliban detainees in Panjshir have not been disclosed, and that some have been killed with suspected links to the NRF.
In some places, the bodies of those killed are displayed as a clear warning to others.