Local Daesh/ISIS branch behind most of 700 killed in Afghanistan since US withdrawal: UN

By Riyaz ul Khaliq

ISTANBUL (AA) – Since US-led foreign forces completely withdrew from Afghanistan last August, around 700 people have been killed and over 1,400 injured, most of them by a local branch of the terrorist group Daesh/ISIS, according to a UN report released Wednesday.

The deaths and injuries were predominantly caused by IED attacks attributed to ISIS/Daesh-Khorasan Province (also called ISIS-K or ISIL-KP) and unexploded ordnance, said the UN Assistance Mission in Afghanistan in the report covering Aug. 15, 2021 to June 15, 2022.

Foreign forces left the war-torn country last August after the Washington-backed Kabul administration melted down and its officials fled the country in the face of rapid advances by the Taliban.

The UN report acknowledged an “overall, significant reduction in armed violence” between last August and this June.

“The majority of civilian casualties were attributed to targeted attacks by the armed group ISIL-KP against ethnic and religious minority communities in places where they go to school, worship and go about their daily lives,” it said.

“It is beyond time for all Afghans to be able to live in peace and rebuild their lives after 20 years of armed conflict. Our monitoring reveals that despite the improved security situation since 15 August, the people of Afghanistan, in particular women and girls, are deprived of the full enjoyment of their human rights,” said Markus Potzel, the secretary-general’s acting special representative for Afghanistan.

UN officials said the de facto Taliban authorities have taken some steps “seemingly aimed at the protection and promotion of human rights, such as the amnesty for former government officials and security force members, on women’s rights and a code of conduct relating to prisoners.”

However, it noted that the “erosion of women’s rights has been one of the most notable aspects of the de facto administration to date.”

The report also highlighted 59 extrajudicial killings, 22 arbitrary arrests and detentions, and seven incidents of “torture and ill-treatment” of individuals accused of affiliation with ISIS-K allegedly by de facto Taliban authorities.

On the work of the media in Afghanistan, it said that during the period, five journalists were killed by ISIS-K.