Two Years Of Repression: Mapping Taliban Violence Targeting Civilians in Afghanistan

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Taliban Militants in Kabul (file photo)

ACLED: On 17 August 2021, two days after the fall of Kabul, the Taliban held a press conference promising amnesty for former government officials, respect for women’s rights, and freedom of the press.1 Nearly two years later, it is clear that the Taliban has upheld none of these promises, instead conducting a violent campaign of repression. Since the takeover, the Taliban has targeted former government and security officials, carried out collective punishments in areas where anti-Taliban groups have emerged, and imposed ultraconservative societal restrictions – especially on women and journalists – aimed at maintaining control. ACLED records over 1,000 incidents of violence targeting civilians by the Taliban between the fall of Kabul on 15 August 2021 and 30 June 2023, accounting for 62% of all attacks on civilians in the country. This places the Taliban regime in Afghanistan among the world’s top government or de facto state perpetrators of violence targeting civilians domestically since August 2021, behind only the military junta in Myanmar. Click here to read more (external link).

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US lawmakers call on FIFA to recognize exiled Afghanistan women’s soccer team

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Reuters: A bipartisan group of U.S. lawmakers called on FIFA to recognize the exiled Afghanistan women’s soccer team, in a letter sent to the sport’s international governing body on Friday. The team has been playing in exile in Australia since the Taliban took control of the Afghan government in August 2021, causing many prominent women to flee the country for fear of persecution. Click here to read more (external link).

 

Darul Ifta Issues Fatwa Against War in Pakistan: Mujahid

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Zabihullah Mujahid

Tolo News: The Islamic Emirate’s [Taliban] Spokesman, Zabiullah Mujahid, said that the leader Mawlawi Hibatullah Akhundzada has not issued any decree about war in Pakistan but the Darul Ifta office of the Islamic Emirate issued a Fatwa against war in Pakistan. He said that based on the Fatwa, war in other countries should be based on orders of the leader of the Islamic Emirate. “This is clear. This is the Sharia order, which has been given by the Darul Ifta of the Islamic Emirate not by Amirul Momineen (Islamic Emirate leader). The Darul Ifta has stated the Mujahideen (Islamic Emirate’s troops) going out of the country for war is not Jihad and that in such situations the order of the Amir or permission of the Amir of the Muslims is compulsory,” he said. Click here to read more (external link).

‘Like A Prisoner’: A Former Afghan Female Prosecutor Hunted By The Taliban

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She once helped put Taliban militants in prison, but now they are hunting her. Many former state prosecutors are in hiding and have been in fear for their lives since the Taliban seized power in Afghanistan two years ago. Now one of them, a female prosecutor, agreed to an interview with RFE/RL. She told us she lives “like a prisoner,” constantly moving from one safe house to another. We have distorted her voice to protect her identity.

Mass Detention: Taliban Hold 40 Ghazni Residents Amid Allegations of Intelligence Officer’s Killing

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8am: Local sources in Ghazni report that in the aftermath of the assassination of the head of Taliban’s intelligence management in Khaja Omari district, the Taliban have detained and allegedly tortured at least 40 civilians. Sources confirmed to Hasht-e Subh on Thursday, August 10th, that over the course of this week, the Taliban have incarcerated this number of civilians who reside in Qal-e Naw village within this district. According to sources, the detained individuals face daily brutal beatings at the hands of prison guards affiliated with the Taliban. Click here to read more (external link).

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Afghan People Are Living A ‘Humanitarian And Human Rights Nightmare,’ HRW Says

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Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty
August 10, 2023

Human Rights Watch (HRW) has urged donor countries to find ways to mitigate the ongoing humanitarian and human rights crisis in Afghanistan without reinforcing the Taliban’s repressive policies against women, girls, and media.

In an August 10 statement, HRW pointed to the devastating effect of the Taliban edict banning women from working in local and international nongovernmental organizations, which has resulted in them facing additional difficulties in getting access to food, health care, and housing.

The Taliban edict denying women and girls access to education has also contributed to the deepening of Afghanistan’s humanitarian crisis, HRW said.

“Taliban’s misogynist policies show a complete disregard for women’s basic rights,” said HRW’s Fereshta Abbasi, adding that the group’s gender restrictive measures harm the whole of Afghan society, not only women.

Abbasi said Afghans are currently living a “humanitarian and human rights nightmare under Taliban rule.”

She urged the militant group’s leadership to abandon their “abusive rules and policies” and called on the international community to hold them accountable for the worsening situation in the war-wracked country.

Afghanistan lost development assistance and financial support from Western donors after the Taliban seized power in the wake of the final withdrawal of U.S. and NATO forces at the end of August 2021.

After falling under Taliban rule again, Afghanistan became one of the world’s worst crisis-hit areas, with more than 28 million people — or about two-thirds of the whole population — urgently in need of humanitarian aid, HRW said.

“The Taliban’s response to Afghanistan’s overwhelming humanitarian crisis has been to further crush women’s rights and any dissent,” Abbasi said. “Governments engaging with the Taliban should press them to urgently reverse course and restore all Afghans’ fundamental rights while providing vital assistance to the Afghan population.”

Copyright (c) 2023. RFE/RL, Inc. Reprinted with the permission of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, 1201 Connecticut Ave NW, Ste 400, Washington DC 20036.

UN Warns Of Cut To Food Aid To Afghans Amid Funding Shortages

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By RFE/RL’s Radio Azadi
August 10, 2023

The UN World Food Program (WFP) has warned that without urgent funding, it will be forced to cut food aid to millions of Afghans grappling with hunger and food insecurity.

The warning comes as aid groups scramble to attract international attention to diminishing funding to assistance operations in one of the world’s worst humanitarian crises.

Aid groups estimate that some 30 million Afghans are in need of assistance amid an economic collapse in the aftermath of the Taliban’s return to power in August 2021.

Also frequently plagued by natural disasters, Afghanistan is one of the world’s most vulnerable countries to climate change.

“We need some $110 million immediately to store food for the winter for nearly 3 million people in the remote corners of Afghanistan,” Wahidullah Amani, a spokesman for the WFP in Afghanistan, told RFE/RL’s Radio Azadi on August 9.

“If we don’t get this funding in time, we will be forced to reduce the quantity of [food] aid in the coming weeks,” he added.

Amani said that the WFP needs $1 billion in the next six months to provide food aid to impoverished and vulnerable Afghans during the winter, which sets in the mountainous country with the first snowfalls in November.

WFP estimates that more than 15 million Afghans out of a total estimated population of 40 million need food aid. Out of these, nearly 3 million are on the brink of starvation.

WFP’s warning comes after concerns were also expressed by the International Rescue Committee (IRC), a U.S. nongovernmental organization with large humanitarian operations in Afghanistan. The IRC and other aid groups are worried about the diminishing funding for humanitarian operations in Afghanistan.

The IRC warned that nearly 30 million Afghans “remain in dire need of assistance” as funding shortfalls jeopardize the humanitarian response in the Muslim country.

It said that only 23 percent of this year’s $4.6 billion proposed humanitarian funding had been covered. In comparison, 40 percent of the previous plan was funded by the same time last year.

Afghanistan, one of the most aid-dependent countries in the world, lost development and financial assistance from Western donors after the Taliban returned to power in the wake of the final withdrawal of U.S. and NATO forces at the end of August 2021.

The fledgling Afghan economy rapidly collapsed, which prompted previously self-sufficient Afghans to rely on humanitarian aid.

The Taliban’s unrecognized government was slapped with sanctions and faced international isolation because of its extensive human rights abuses.

Copyright (c) 2023. RFE/RL, Inc. Reprinted with the permission of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, 1201 Connecticut Ave NW, Ste 400, Washington DC 20036.

Zardari: Return of the IEA emboldened TTP

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Ariana: Pakistan’s Foreign Minister says that the return of the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan (IEA) [Taliban] has emboldened the banned Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), which has been implicated in numerous attacks in the neighboring country in the past year. Responding to the increase in terror attacks in Pakistan, Zardari said that it was clear that the return of the IEA had emboldened the TTP. “If Afghan Taliban (IEA) blame Pakistan, that would first hurt its own people and then Pakistan,” he said. Click here to read more (external link).