By: Rukhshana Media
Afghanistan’s Independent Human Rights Commission said in a report released on Monday, August 15, that 2626 civilians were killed and wounded since the Taliban returned to power on August 15, 2021, one year ago.
Of 2626 civilian casualties, 1520 were killed and 1106 wounded, according to the report which also said that the actual number could be higher because some areas were inaccessible to human rights activists to visit and compile data.
Women make up over 7 percent of the total casualties with 98 dead and 98 wounded, the report said. More than 5 percent of them were children, with 59 dead and 84 wounded. Over 87 percent of the victims were male including 1,363 deaths and 924 injuries.
AIHRC accused the Taliban of being behind most civilians casualties, followed by ISIS-K terror group, without giving any numbers.
The report said the Taliban were behind deliberate killings of civilians in Panjshir, Baghlan, Sar-e-Pul, Takhar, Ghazni, Daikundi, Ghor, Badakhshan and Kandahar provinces.
The Taliban, as the government, has also failed to protect religious minorities against deadly ISIS-K attacks.
The findings of AIHRC shows at least 17 large attacks have been carried out on mosques, schools, passengers buses, sports stadiums and airports between August 15, 2021 and August 15, 2022. These attacks left 540 dead and 519 wounded. All victims were civilians, and ISIS-K has taken responsibility for most of these attacks.
AIHRC has also found that 980 civilians were killed and 587 wounded in targeted killings, ground conflicts, summary executions of prisoners of war and kangaroo trials. The Taliban are believed to be the culprits behind most of these killings.
