Taliban* fighters at Kabul airport. File photoWASHINGTON, Apr 13The Taliban (the Taliban is under UN sanctions for terrorist activities) have killed or kidnapped nearly 490 former government officials, security forces and people who worked with international forces since taking power in Afghanistan, according to a New York Times investigation. The leader of the Taliban * Haibatullah Akhundzada, after coming to power in Afghanistan in August 2021, announced a general amnesty. According to the investigation, journalists confirmed 86 killings in Baghlan province alone, another 114 people went missing in Kandahar. The publication reports that disappearances and killings were recorded in all 34 provinces of Afghanistan. According to the newspaper, the Taliban are «using the amnesty as a trap to lure the soldiers out of hiding.» «They called me to the police station. I thought that because of the amnesty they might just ask a few questions… They started beating me, then left into the well and told me: «You fought against us for so many years and killed so many of our best people.» I really thought they would kill me… So many of my fellow soldiers were also thrown into the well. These atrocities continue to this day «, — the publication quotes the words of a man whom he calls the former commander of the security forces. It is noted that the newspaper's employees conducted an investigation for seven months. To verify the data, they used a variety of methods, including forensic video examinations, confirmation of the accuracy of local media reports, interviews with survivors, witnesses and family members of the victims. The journalists also analyzed the data of human rights organizations. In early August 2021, the Taliban intensified their offensive against the Afghan government forces, entered Kabul on August 15, and the next day declared that the war was over. The last two weeks of August, from the Kabul airport, which was under the protection of the US military, there was a mass evacuation of Western citizens and Afghans who collaborated with them. On the night of August 31, the US military left the Kabul airport, ending almost 20 years of US military presence in Afghanistan. In early September, the composition of the interim government of Afghanistan was announced, headed by Mohammad Hassan Akhund, who was in charge of foreign policy during the first rule of the Taliban * and has been under UN sanctions since 2001.* The movement has been under UN sanctions for terrorist activities.
