A group of former Afghan government soldiers currently residing in Pakistan have penned a letter describing their deeply concerning and distressing situation. The letter, dated Tuesday, September 19th, sheds light on their daily struggle for survival in challenging circumstances.
According to these former soldiers, they not only face difficulties within their homes but also lament that their children are unable to attend schools.
The letter strongly emphasizes the unmet commitments made by the world community, NATO, and the United States to assist and cooperate with the people of Afghanistan, particularly the soldiers, who now find themselves trapped in dire circumstances, enduring a life of misery day and night. They express disappointment that these commitments were not upheld, and instead, Afghanistan’s people and soldiers were referred to as friends and allies only when it suited the interests of those involved.
Furthermore, the letter highlights the daily killings of former soldiers by the Taliban, which is a grim reality that they witness. Since the Taliban takeover, former government soldiers have been detained, imprisoned, and in some cases, brutally killed in various parts of the country.
One of the most recent incidents, occurring on September 11th of this year, involved the Taliban executing a member of the former government’s special forces in the Pul-e-Matak area of Parwan province.
The dire situation is underscored by the United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA), which reported documenting at least 218 cases of extrajudicial killings of officials and former security and defense forces by the Taliban. This troubling revelation has been confirmed by the Human Rights Watch, corroborating UNAMA’s findings of extrajudicial killings, arbitrary detentions, torture, and enforced disappearances of officials and former government soldiers.
