The Taliban captured, certain and shot to dying 27 males in Afghanistan’s Panjshir Valley final month throughout an offensive in opposition to resistance fighters within the space, in keeping with a report printed Tuesday, refuting the group’s earlier claims that the boys had been killed in battle.
One video of the killings verified by the report exhibits 5 males, blindfolded with their fingers tied behind their backs. Then, Taliban fighters spray them with gunfire for 20 seconds and cry out in celebration.
The investigation by Afghan Witness, an open-source venture run by the U.Ok.-based non-profit Heart for Data Resilience, is a uncommon verification of allegations that the Taliban have used brutal strategies in opposition to opposition forces and their supporters, its researchers stated. Since taking energy in August 2021, the Taliban have imposed a tighter and harsher rule, at the same time as they press for worldwide recognition of their authorities.
David Osborn, the staff chief of Afghan Witness, stated the report provides the “most clear-cut instance” of the Taliban finishing up an “orchestrated purge” of resistance fighters.
Afghan Witness stated it analyzed dozens of visible sources from social media — principally movies and pictures — to conclusively hyperlink one group of Taliban fighters to the killings of 10 males within the Dara District of Panjshir, together with the 5 seen being mowed down within the video.
It stated it additionally confirmed 17 different extrajudicial killings from additional photos on social media, all displaying useless males with their fingers tied behind their backs. Movies and images of Taliban fighters with the our bodies aided geolocation and chrono-location, additionally offering close-ups of the fighters on the scene. These had been cross-referenced with different movies suspected to characteristic the group.
“Utilizing open-source methods we have now established the details across the abstract and systematic execution of a gaggle of males within the Panjshir Valley in mid-September,” Osborn stated. “On the time of their execution, the detained had been certain, posing no menace to their Taliban captors.”
Enayatullah Khawarazmi, the Taliban-appointed spokesman for the protection minister, stated a delegation is investigating the movies launched on social media. He stated he was unable to offer additional particulars because the investigation is ongoing.
Zabihullah Mujahid, the spokesman for the Taliban-run authorities, was not instantly accessible for remark.
Final month, Mujahid was reported as saying the Taliban had killed 40 resistance fighters and captured greater than 100 in Panjshir. He gave no particulars on how the 40 males died.
The pressure preventing within the mountainous Panjshir Valley north of Kabul — a distant area that has defied conquerors earlier than — rose out of the final remnants of Afghanistan’s shattered safety forces. It has vowed to withstand the Taliban after they overran the nation and seized energy in August 2021.
Ali Maisam Nazary, head of overseas relations on the Nationwide Resistance Entrance for Afghanistan, stated: “The Taliban dedicated struggle crimes by killing POWs that surrendered to them level clean and the movies are proof of this.”
Afghan Witness stated it has credible proof of an additional 30 deaths on account of final month’s Taliban offensive in opposition to alleged resistance fighters in Panjshir.
