Claimed Taliban killing of civilians

Between 13 and 19 August 2024, AW recorded seven incidents of alleged Taliban violence against civilians (supported by visual evidence), involving incidents of killings (3), torture, and beatings (4). These incidents took place in Badakhshan, Kabul, Takhar, Baghlan, and Jowzjan provinces. The victims included minorities, former Afghan National Security and Defence Forces (ANDSF) members, children, and women. 

Reports of Taliban killings 

On 19 August 2024, BBC Persian reported that an Ismaili man, Mohammad Nabi, was tortured and beheaded in the Zebak district of Badakhshan province. The article did not mention the perpetrator, but added that a local Taliban commander had contacted Nabi several times and demanded weapons from him as he was an ex-ANDSF member. According to the outlet, local Taliban members had previously tortured and threatened to kill Nabi. 

Also on 19 August 2024, journalist Tajuden Soroush shared a photo of Nabi with his throat visibly cut, claiming the Taliban had beheaded him at his home in Badakhshan’s Zebak district. AW investigators were unable to verify where the incident took place. According to the Independent Persian, Nabi went missing after receiving a call from a local Taliban commander named Moez on the night of 17 August 2024; allegedly, his decapitated body was found by his relatives a few hours later. 

On 14 August 2024, reports and claims circulated of the alleged killing of 21-year-old Hamid Jalal Pashtun by Taliban forces in Kabul. According to Etilaatroz, Taliban forces shot Hamid Jalal dead on 13 August 2024 as his car overtook a convoy of Taliban vehicles in Kart-e-Naw, Police District 8, Kabul. Azadi Radio reported that Jalal was originally from Nangarhar province and was a newly engaged university student. Footage showing Jalal’s dead body and burial circulated on X. 

On 15 August 2024, the Taliban Spokesperson for the Ministry of Interior Affairs, Abdul Mateen Qani, wrote on X that they had detained the perpetrator and the case would be handed over to the Taliban military court for further proceedings after the completion of the investigation. On 19 August 2024, the Taliban’s Ministry of Interior Affairs shared photos on X, and said that a delegation from the leadership of the ministry had visited the family of the victim and expressed their condolences. The Ministry also claimed to have paid AFN 200,000 (approximately GBP 2,166) to the victim’s family, which may be interpreted as an acknowledgement of their responsibility in the matter. 

On 13 August 2024, claims circulated on X that Taliban forces had killed Hujjatullah, a former commando officer, in the Rustaq district of Takhar province. A photo circulated on social media of a body showing the victim’s face covered with a black fabric, handcuffs on one of his wrists and blood spots on the ground. According to the claim, Hujjatullah’s body was discovered on the highway in Rastaq district and was taken to Dasht-e-Qala district hospital. However, NRF News, a news outlet affiliated with the National Resistance Front, reported the incident without mentioning the perpetrators and the victim’s affiliation with former security forces. 

Reports of Taliban torture and beatings

On 18 August 2024, Etilaatroz posted a video on X that showed a man with an injured eye, reporting that the man was a bus driver named Ziarat Gul who had been hit in the eye and blinded by a Taliban member. According to the outlet, the incident took place near the Doshi district of Baghlan province, where the Taliban had allegedly stopped Ziarat Gul and hit him in the eyes with a rifle for driving too fast. Gul reportedly works for Qudrat Bus Transportation Company, and the company is set to send him to Iran for treatment. In the video, Gul says: “I am blinded now; it is all over.”

On 17 August 2024, Amu TV shared a blurred video, showing two minors lying on the ground, with one of them being beaten on his feet. According to Amu TV, the incident happened on 14 August 2024, and the men in the video torturing the two minors were Taliban members in Jowzjan province, attempting to force the boys to confess to stealing. 

On 15 August 2024, Afghanistan International shared an image showing a person’s back with signs of beating, accompanied by a voice memo. According to the audio shared, the image showed an English teacher who was hit by Taliban forces for teaching girls older than 15-years-old at a private tuition centre in western Kabul. 

Als on 15 August 2024, Afghanistan International posted a blurred video reporting that the Taliban had beaten a number of female labourers of a raisin cleaning company in the Pul-e Charkhi area of Kabul. The woman speaking in the video says: 

“This woman with a breastfeeding baby and the other [woman], [the] wife of the driver went out of their houses today to provide for their children and were beaten by mullahs of the Islamic Emirate. They were beaten so brutally that their faces are not even recognisable … When they [the women] went to the Iban Sina Hospital [for treatment], they were told to leave and told they had fought with each other. They [the Taliban] broke the car windows and beat the driver. The girls are all in shock.”

The video later shows women lying on hospital beds, and a woman can be heard in the background saying: “10-15 of them attacked the car…” According to another media report, the Taliban beat the women for going to work on 14 August 2024, which had reportedly been declared as a public holiday to mark the three year anniversary of the beginning of their rule over Afghanistan. The report also claimed that some of the women were sitting in the front seat of the vehicle, which was another reason for the Taliban beating the driver and women passengers.