19 ex-military soldiers of the former Afghan government have been killed in different ways in just three northern provinces of the country in the past two months. Most of the bodies found were slaughtered and left in the plains, gardens, and roadsides.
According to the sources, these former soldiers were killed after being tortured by the Taliban for collaborating with the NRF (National Resistance Front) or the ISIS. These former soldiers’ funeral was also held under the supervision of Taliban fighters.
According to the available statistics, in the last two months, seven dead bodies have been in Samangan province, six in Faryab, and six more in Balkh province.
Talking to Hasht-e-Subh, some sources in Aybak city, Samangan’s capital, said that on last week (December 23), Ziauddin’s slaughtered body was found in a garden located in the green area of Aybak city. According to the sources, some traces of torture were found on his body. One of the civil society activists, who preferred his name to be left out of the report, said that four other bodies with traces of torture visible on them were also discovered in different parts of Aybak city by the local people, adding that the Taliban fighters have told the victims’ relatives that they killed them for having joined ISIS. The activist also added that the Taliban did not provide any documents to prove that those people were active members of ISIS.
Moreover, the activist in Samangan also said that another butchered body of an ex-military named Zmarai, 27 years old, was found in the Shareekyar village, the beheaded body of Immamullah, 31 years old, was found in Dasht Qarashabargh village, and the slaughtered body of Najibullah, 34 years old, was found in the Kart-e-kashf village in northern Samangan. Based on the activist’s remarks, the last slaughtered body belonged to Ziauddin that was found five days ago in a garden located in the Kart-e-Sabz village of Samangan province of Afghanistan.
Meanwhile, according to Ahmadullah, one of the directors of the development council in Aybak city, all four dead bodies discovered in different villages of the city were the previous government’s national army and police officers.
Additionally, Erfan, a bus driver in the Khuram-u-Sarbagh district, added that a beheaded body of Samad, 30 years old, was also found by one of the local farmers in the center of the district. According to him, Samad was an ex-military officer in northern Afghanistan. “He had just returned from Iran and was busy shepherding since October”, he added.
Meanwhile, two young dead bodies found in the Dara-e-Suf district of Samangan province belonged to Hassan Ali and Reza. According to local sources, both were working in a coal mine, and, two weeks ago, they were kidnaped and shot dead.
Subsequently, their bodies were discovered by the truck drivers of Dara-e-Suf to Aybak highways. According to the sources, Hassan Ali and Reza were shot by the Taliban fighters due to their connections with ISIS.
Six slaughtered bodies were found in Faryab
Local sources claim that these ex-military officers were killed mysteriously by Taliban soldiers. The Taliban soldiers later threatened the families of the victims to not file any complaint regarding the killing to the authorities. Based on the sources, their funeral was also held under the supervision of Taliban.
Rasool Hashemi (a pseudonym) is a human rights activist who work as a “focal point” in one of the international human rights organizations in Maimana city. Talking to Hasht-e-Sobh, he said that three slaughtered bodies were found in Maimana, two other beheaded bodies were found in the Qaisar district, and another in Pashtunkut district of Faryab.
Mr. Hashemi said that Haider and Samiullah were two ex-military officers whose bodies showed signs of torture after having been kidnapped ten days ago, their bodies were discovered by the local people in the area. He added that Haider and Samiullah served in the “People’s Uprisings ” unit of the Faryab National Security Directorate and were displaced to Kabul after the Taliban took over the whole country. According to Hashemi, the Taliban arrested two other people after having stormed their homes at night on the 17th of November this year and took them to an unknown place. Their families became aware of their dead bodies at the police station in the fourth district of Faryab province.
Taliban intelligence forces threatened the two victims’ families
Rasool Hashemi also claims that the Taliban have threatened the prisoners of two ex-military officers’ families with death to not file a complaint against them in any official authority. They also threatened the families to refuse to interview with the media. According to Mr. Hashemi, the Taliban have slaughtered and tortured the two ex-military officers for spreading violence and revenge.
The human rights activist also continued to talk regarding the discovery of another body who was slaughtered and tortured with a knife. He explained: “Hedaytullah, 35 years old, was found by local people in the second district of Maimana. He was killed about 500 meters away from the second district police station of the Taliban during the morning prayer on Friday last week. Hedayatullah was killed mysteriously and his body was later thrown away near one of the sides of a public road by some unknown people”. So far, the cause and motives for Hedayatullah’s murder is unknown.
On the other hand, over the course of the past two weeks, two other young dead bodies were found by the people in Qaisar district of Faryab province. According to the local sources, the two boys, 20 and 23 years old, were killed by unknown people. The Taliban in Qaisar district attributed this case to family animosity.
Based on the sources, Mojtaba was working as a driver in the National Police Headquarters before the Taliban in Pashtunkot District Security Command. His dead body that had been shot was discovered by one of the bus drivers in the center of Qaisar district.
Six dead bodies were found in Balkh province
In addition, several civil society organizations in Balkh have told the media that six ex-military officers have been killed mysteriously in the past two months (November and December). According to the sources, the relatives of these victims refused these murders to be covered by the media due to fear of Taliban. The sources confirmed that all six bodies belonged to ex-military soldiers whose identities have not been revealed to the media due to the pressure of the Taliban.
Other sources in Balkh provincial hospital said that the bodies of people who were killed mysteriously were taken to the hospital’s morgue by Taliban. According to a source, when the Taliban received the bodies, they took a commitment from the dead bodies’ relatives not to talk to the media about how the bodies were tortured and killed. Not revealing his name, one of the doctors of the hospital, where the two dead bodies were taken, confirmed that the family members of the former soldiers have been threatened with death by the Taliban to not file any complaints against them in the media or to official authorities.
The Taliban have not said anything about the nature of these mysterious murders in Samangan, Faryab, and Balkh provinces, however, the increase in the murder and slaughter of ex-government army soldiers and civilians by gunmen has increased concerns amongst the residents of those provinces.
According to the northern residents of Afghanistan, the Taliban are responsible for the killing of Afghan ex-military officers, and the Taliban always keep silent instead of talking about crimes against humanity and the killing of ex-military soldiers and civilians.
Shamsullah Mohammadi, the Taliban’s head of information and culture in Faryab province, and Emdadullah Mohajer, the head of information and culture of the Taliban in Samangan province consider these murders as ‘personal enmity’.
It all happens after the Republic collapsed on August 15th last year, following the escape of the former president, Mohammad Ashraf Ghani, and the Taliban captured the capital. Later, the leader of the Taliban, Mullah Hebatullah Akhundzada, announced a general amnesty after taking all over the country and added that all former military personnel are included in this order and should not worry about their lives and property. In one and a half years of Taliban rule over the country, hundreds of former soldiers, journalists, human rights activists, and people who raised their voices against the Taliban have been arrested, tortured, and in some cases killed by this group.
Criticizing the Taliban, the citizens of the country tell that the group’s “general amnesty” order was nothing but a lie. At the moment, most of the former military officers have taken refuge in the neighboring countries, and those left in the country live in fear. In addition to the fact that the Taliban are not ready to accept former soldiers in their system, instead, they have a hostile attitude towards them. Moreover, the Taliban have not stopped arresting, torturing, and killing prominent former soldiers, despite the fact that many human rights organizations have repeatedly urged the Taliban to obey their promise of amnesty and treat former soldiers respectfully.