The rights group says the Taliban has failed to guard Hazaras and different at-risk communities.
An affiliate of the ISIL (ISIS) armed group in Afghanistan has focused Hazaras – a predominantly Shia Muslim ethnic group – and different minorities, in a wave of assaults at mosques, colleges and workplaces, undermining the Taliban’s promise of larger safety, the Human Rights Watch mentioned in a report on Tuesday.
The Islamic State of Khorasan Province, ISKP (ISIS-Okay) has repeatedly attacked non secular minorities, with the Taliban authorities doing little to guard them from assaults or to supply obligatory medical care and different help to victims and their households, the group mentioned in a scathing report.
The Taliban have claimed that they introduced safety to Afghanistan after taking up management in August 2021, following the US army’s withdrawal. However ISKP’s continued assaults towards Hazara Muslims, Sufis, Sikhs and different minorities undercut that Taliban narrative.
“For the reason that Taliban takeover, ISIS-linked fighters have dedicated quite a few brutal assaults towards members of the Hazara group as they go to highschool, to work, or to wish, with out a critical response from the Taliban authorities,” mentioned Fereshta Abbasi, Afghanistan researcher at HRW.
“The Taliban have an obligation to guard at-risk communities and help the victims of assaults and their households.”
For the reason that Taliban’s return to energy, the ISKP has claimed duty for 13 assaults towards Hazaras and has been linked to no less than three extra, killing and injuring no less than 700 individuals, the rights group mentioned.
The group additionally mentioned that the Taliban’s personal crackdown on the media means further assaults have seemingly gone unreported. The United Nations Help Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA) reported that current assaults by the group on Shia gatherings in Kabul killed and injured greater than 120 individuals, HRW mentioned.
ISKP emerged as the largest safety menace
The ISKP has emerged as the largest safety problem to the Taliban, which already confronted starvation stalking the nation, the Afghan financial system in freefall after billions of {dollars} of Afghan funds had been frozen and worldwide diplomatic isolation.
The New York-based rights advocacy group remotely interviewed 21 survivors of assaults, and members of the family of victims, in Kabul and Mazar-i-Sharif provinces between April and July, utilizing safe communications.
Based on the group, the assaults, past their rapid devastation, take a horrible long-term toll on the survivors and households of victims, depriving them of breadwinners, typically imposing extreme medical burdens, and limiting their entry to every day life.
“We don’t ship our kids to highschool any extra, and we shut our outlets early,” mentioned a person who misplaced his 45-year-old brother within the Seh Dokan Mosque assault. “The mosque has additionally been closed for the reason that assault.”
Despair and extreme trauma had been reported by survivors and family members of victims. Girls additionally mentioned that dropping their partner or “mahram” (male family member) has meant extra dire social and financial penalties, particularly as Taliban restrictions on their freedoms have made it tough to earn a residing and develop into financially impartial.
The Taliban’s failure to supply safety to at-risk populations and medical and different help to survivors and affected households exacerbates the hurt these assaults trigger, HRW mentioned.
“Armed group leaders might, sooner or later, face justice for his or her atrocities towards Hazaras and different communities,” Abbasi mentioned. “Taliban officers who fail to take motion to guard non secular minorities from assault could also be complicit in these grave crimes.”