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04 August 2021The Taliban offensive in Afghanistan does not stop after the definitive withdrawal of US troops, which took place on 1 May. Kabul is the scene of bloody violence. The Taliban claimed responsibility for one of the two attacks yesterday, the one against the residence of the defense minister, Bismillah Mohammadi. A suicide bomber launched himself with a car bomb, at least 8 people died and 4 were injured, but the minister was unharmed.
The Interior Ministry, through a spokesperson, said the death toll could rise. The Taliban claimed responsibility for the attack through spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid, stressing that the action is considered a retaliation for recent attacks by Afghan forces in various provinces, which have caused civilian casualties and displaced people and threaten an escalation of attacks.
The Taliban's target is the
'green zone', the
one in the center of the Afghan capital that houses government buildings, including the presidential palace, embassies and the headquarters of humanitarian agencies. Witnesses report to Al Jazeera that terrorists enter homes, restaurants and cafes and clashes with security forces.
And this morning, again in Kabul, another bomb exploded in the street near the Ministry of Martyrs and the Disabled, leaving three injured.
But the real Taliban target is the
south of the country
, where they have conquered nine of the 10 districts of the provincial capital of Helmand, Lashkar Gah. This was announced by residents and officials. Kabul government forces conducted US-backed air strikes in an attempt to defend the city. There is a risk that Lashkar Gah will completely fall into the hands of Islamic extremists and would be the first provincial capital under their control for years.
The commander of the army in Helmand, General Sami Sadat, in an audio message shared with journalists asked the population living in the areas taken by the Taliban to flee immediately. And there are also reports of executed soldiers, police officers and civilians who had ties to the Kabul government.
Human Rights Watch
(HRW)
denounced it
in a report published last night in New York.
According to testimonies from residents, the Taliban asked former police officers and former soldiers to register with the organization in exchange for a document that guaranteed their safety, but subsequently detained some of these people and summarily executed them.
"The summary execution of anyone in custody, whether civilian or combatant, is a gross violation of the Geneva Conventions and a war crime," said Patricia Gossman, Human Rights Watch Director for Asia: "I Taliban commanders who oversee such atrocities are also responsible for war crimes. "
According to a reporter from Malistan, the Taliban killed at least 19 members of the Afghan security forces in their custody and burned the home of Abdul Hakim Shujoyi, a former militia commander who had worked with US forces. In addition, HRW obtained a list with the names of 44 men from the town of Spin Boldak in Kandahar province, who were reportedly killed by the Taliban since July 16.
L'
Unicef
he said he was "deeply concerned about the escalation of violence against children" in the country. In a note he denounced the indignation and violence "over the news of a 12-year-old boy from the district of Shirin Tagab, in the village of Kohsayyad in the province of Faryab, who suffered a brutal flogging by a member of an anti-government element. The child - he adds - suffered injuries to the back, legs and feet, and is traumatized by the ferocious attack.
The
United States
they condemn the attacks and speak "unambiguously" of "Taliban-branded" attacks, commented the spokesman for the State Department. The explosions in Kabul are the latest episode of a spiral of violence that has hit Afghanistan in recent months due to the Taliban offensive, which has expanded their conquests to more than half of the national territory after the withdrawal of international forces. In the past 24 hours, at least 40 civilians have died and 118 others have been injured in fighting between insurgents and Afghan forces in the besieged city of Lashkar Gah in the south of the country. The army has asked the population to leave the city in order to launch the military counter-offensive against the Taliban.
The Turkish foreign ministry called the United States "irresponsible" after the
Biden
administration
announced it will expand efforts to assist at-risk Afghan citizens by hosting them in a
third country
before being granted refugee status. According to ministry spokesman Tanju Bilgic, the US statement suggested Turkey as a place to apply for asylum, 'without consulting' the country. The spokesperson said Turkey lacks the capacity to withstand another migration crisis.
'The United States can directly transport these people by plane. Turkey will not take on the international responsibilities of third countries, Bilgic said and added that Turkey will not allow its laws to be abused by other countries. He stressed that the US announcement will trigger a serious refugee crisis.
The Ministry of Culture and Information of Afghanistan has announced that since the Taliban offensive in the country resumed in May,
51 media outlets
have been forced to close and two journalists have been killed. The data was disclosed by the organization Data by Nai, active in Afghanistan, which specifies that 5 TV channels, 44 radio stations and two agencies have stopped working, while
1,000 journalists lost their jobs
. In recent days, the situation in the province of Helmand has been particularly dramatic, where 16 media outlets, including a TV channel, have been stormed by extremists and forced to close, while 6 of these are under Taliban control. Helmand, the situation is dramatic in the provinces of Kandahar, Badakhshan, Takhar, Baghlan, Samangan, Balkh, Sar-e-Pul, Jawzjan, Faryab, Nuristan and Badghis.