According to UN information, the radical Islamist Taliban have killed dozens of former Afghan officials, members of the security forces and local forces since taking power in August. There are credible reports that more than 100 of these people have been killed since August 15, UN Secretary-General António Guterres said in a letter to the Security Council, seen by Reuters news agency. In more than two thirds of the cases, the Taliban or their allies are said to be responsible.
There are also credible allegations that at least 50 suspected members of the Islamic State extremist group were executed without trial. The report also describes the worsening living conditions for the Afghan population. “An entire complex social and economic system is collapsing,” it says.
A number of human rights activists and journalists have also been “attacked, intimidated, harassed, arbitrarily arrested, mistreated and killed” in recent months, it said. Here, the UN counted eight members of civil society organizations and two media workers who died at the hands of the radical Islamic Taliban, Islamists or unknown persons.
Guterres: Don’t isolate the Taliban
According to Guterres, the serious socio-economic crisis in Afghanistan can only be overcome if the Taliban are not isolated internationally: “The development of a constructive dialogue between the de facto rulers, other Afghan interest groups, the region and the international community (. ..) is therefore of crucial importance.”
The UN chief proposed a new structure for the United Nations presence in Afghanistan, which would coordinate political development on the one hand and humanitarian aid on the other. The Taliban took power in Afghanistan in mid-2021. The soldiers of Western countries – including German ones – have since left the country.