Reports of killings fuel Afghans’ fears
Insurgents’ promise of ruling with moderation draws skepticism
KABUL, Afghanistan – Reports of targeted killings in areas overrun by the Taliban mounted Friday, fueling fears that they will return Afghanistan to the repressive rule they imposed when they were last in power, even as they urged imams to push a message of unity at Friday’s prayers.
Terrified that the new de facto rulers would commit such abuses and despairing for their country’s future, thousands have raced to Kabul’s airport and border crossings following the Taliban’s stunning blitz through Afghanistan.
Others have taken to the streets to protest the takeover, acts of defiance Taliban fighters have violently suppressed.
The Taliban say they have become more moderate since they last ruled Afghanistan in the 1990s and have pledged to restore security and forgive those who fought them in the 20 years since a U.s.-led invasion.
Before Friday prayers, leaders urged imams to use sermons to appeal for unity and urge people not to flee the country.
But many Afghans are skeptical, fearing that the Taliban will erase the gains, especially for women, achieved in the past two decades.
An Amnesty International report provided more evidence Friday that undercut the Taliban’s claims they have changed.
The rights group said that its researchers spoke to eyewitnesses in Ghazni province who recounted how the Taliban killed nine ethnic Hazara men in the village of Mundarakht on July 4-6. It said six of the men were shot and three were tortured to death.
Hazaras are Shiite Muslims who were previously persecuted by the Taliban.
The brutality of the killings was “a reminder of the Taliban’s past record, and a horrifying indicator of what Taliban rule may bring,” said Agnes Callamard, head of Amnesty International.
The rights group warned that many more killings might be unreported because the Taliban cut cellphone services in many areas they’ve captured to prevent images from being published.
Separately, Reporters without Borders expressed alarm at the news that
Taliban fighters killed a family member of an Afghan journalist working for German’s Deutsche Welle on Wednesday.
The broadcaster said fighters conducted house-to-house searches for the reporter, who had already relocated to Germany.
It said the Taliban also raided the homes of at least three of its journalists.
“Sadly, this confirms our worst fears,” said Katja Gloger of Reporters without Borders’ German section. “The brutal action of the Taliban shows that the lives of independent media workers in Afghanistan are in acute danger.”
Meanwhile, a Norway-based private intelligence group that provides information to the U.N. said it obtained evidence that the Taliban rounded up Afghans on a blacklist of people they believe worked in key roles with the previous Afghan administration or with U.s.-led forces.
In an email, Christian Nellemann, the executive director of RHIPTO Norwegian Center for Global Analyses, said the organization knew about several threat letters sent to Afghans, including a man taken from his Kabul apartment this week by the Taliban.