The findings of this report show that 25 civilians were killed in various incidents in under a month alone. In addition, 46 people were killed during the month of Sunbula (August 23 to September 22). This report compiles statistics only on mysterious killings. The victims include three Taliban members, and the rest were civilians. Some of the victims were former military personnel who were engaged in private work. Most of these killings have been attributed to the Taliban, while others are said to have been committed by thieves, and the perpetrators of some incidents have not yet been identified. This report details only the killings since September 23. The figures are based on news published by the Hasht-e Subh Daily. However, given the Taliban’s restrictions on access to information, the number of victims is likely higher.
According to the findings of this report, in the most recent case, a young man was killed yesterday in Kunar province. Sources say unidentified individuals stabbed him to death in the Shengar area of Asmar district. The motive for the killing and the identity of the perpetrators remain unclear.
Also, on Friday, October 16, a young man named Alauddin was shot dead by unidentified armed men in the “Block area” of Pul-e Khumri, the capital of Baghlan province. The motive for the killing remains unclear.
In another case, an 11-year-old child was abducted and killed last week in Takhar province. Relatives of the child confirmed to the Hasht-e Subh Daily that the child’s body was found two days after the disappearance, and evidence suggests the child was brutally killed. The child was a resident of Khwaja Ghar district in Takhar province. The perpetrators had not been identified at the time this report was published.
In a further incident, a young man was killed by unidentified armed men in Surkh Rod district of Nangarhar province. On Sunday, October 11, sources told the Hasht-e Subh Daily that the young man’s name was Ismail, a native of Dara-e Noor district in Nangarhar, and that he worked as a driver.
Also, a young man was mysteriously killed in Bamyan province in recent weeks. Sources say the young man, named Firoz Ali, was killed by the Taliban in his shop on October 8. The sources said two of Firoz Ali’s brothers had been killed earlier. One was serving in the army of the former government, and the other was fighting the Taliban in the ranks of the Afghanistan Freedom Front (AFF) in Salang district of Parwan province. Firoz Ali worked as a tailor and was the sole breadwinner of his family, they added.
The findings of this report show that a young man named Sultan was killed by thieves in Jalalabad, the capital of Nangarhar province. Sources said he was killed on Wednesday, October 7, in the Daman area of District 8 of Jalalabad city, and that the thieves also took his motorcycle. They added that the incident took place near a Taliban security checkpoint.
Likewise, a Taliban fighter in Laghman province shot dead a civilian after a verbal altercation. The incident took place on Wednesday, October 7, in the Omarzai area of Mehtarlam, the capital of Laghman province. Sources said the shopkeeper was shot by the Taliban fighter after an argument. They added that the fighter is now moving about freely and has not been held to account or prosecuted.
According to the findings of this report, in a continuation of the mysterious killings, a young man named Siraj Ahmad was killed by unidentified individuals before noon on Monday, September 28, in Rawza village in the Ghazni provincial capital. Sources said he was working on his farmland when armed men opened fire on him, and he died.
In another incident, a young man was killed in Aqcha district of Jawzjan province. He was stabbed to death near his home in the district center, sources said.
In a continuation of the killings of civilians, sources had confirmed to the Hasht-e Subh Daily that a young man was killed on the evening of September 27 by a Taliban fighter in Badghis province. The young man was killed in the “Jahandost-ha” area of Qades district by Hafiz Abdul Hakim, a Taliban fighter, according to the sources.
A teacher is also among those killed in under a month. The teacher, named Amrullah, was killed in Qala-e Fathkhan village, which falls under Mehtarlam, the Laghman provincial capital. Sources said he taught physics at the “Roshan” school in Mehtarlam.
In a continuation of the killings of former military personnel, on Friday, September 25, a former soldier named Obaidullah was shot dead in Wama district of Nuristan province. Sources said he was killed by armed men.
Also, a former soldier was detained by the Taliban after being deported from Iran and was later brutally killed. On Friday, September 25, sources told the Hasht-e Subh Daily that the former soldier, named Mohammad Nasim, had been detained in Shahr-e Jadid in Baghlan-e Markazi district. Signs of severe beating and bullet wounds were visible on his body, they said.
Findings from another Hasht-e Subh Daily report show that two people were brutally strangled with rope in Badghis province. On Thursday, September 24, sources shared photos of the two victims with the Hasht-e Subh Daily and said that one of them was a guard at a telecommunications tower and the other was a civilian. The second victim was carrying several thousand Afghanis at the time of the incident, they said. The sources added that a Taliban fighter had followed the two from the provincial capital to a bazaar called “Qandi Zard.”
In another incident, a money changer was shot dead by unidentified armed men in Ghazni province on Wednesday, September 23. Sources said the young man, named Gulbuddin, was killed in Walidad village of Qarabagh district. They added that he was shot at by the armed men while in his vehicle.
In another killing on Wednesday, September 23, a doctor named Khalidin Qarloq was killed by unidentified individuals in the district center of Dasht-e Archi in Kunduz province. Sources said he was stabbed to death inside his pharmacy.
According to news published by the Hasht-e Subh Daily, 45 other people were also killed in various incidents during the month of Sunbula this year, most of which have been attributed to unidentified individuals. The Hasht-e Subh Daily has previously published the details of these incidents.
This comes as the Taliban have repeatedly claimed that they have established security in Afghanistan and that the lives and property of citizens are not under threat.
Meanwhile, the United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA), in its latest report, said that over the past three months, four former members of Afghanistan’s defense and security forces have been killed, and at least 14 cases of arbitrary arrest and detention of former members have also been recorded.
You can read the Persian version of this report here:
