Nearly 500 ex-Afghan officials killed, kidnapped by Taliban: Report

Kabul [Afghanistan], April 13 (ANI): The Taliban, after seizing power in Afghanistan, have murdered or kidnapped about 500 former Afghan officials, military personnel and those believed to have collaborated with the United States.
The Taliban takeover in Afghanistan took place last August amid a complete withdrawal of US troops, yet an investigation conducted by New York Times revealed that about 500 former state officials and military personnel were either murdered or forcibly disappeared within six months of the Taliban resurgence, Sputnik reported.
Citing New York Times investigation, Sputnik further reported that the paper confirmed 86 killings in Baghlan Province alone, with 114 people missing in Kandahar Province. "The paper said the Taliban are exploiting the amnesty as a trap to lure soldiers out of hiding."
"They summoned me to the police headquarters. I figured because of the amnesty they might just ask a few questions...They started beating me and threw me in a well while telling me, 'You've fought against us for many years and killed so many of our best people.' I really believed that they were going to kill me. So many of my fellow soldiers were also thrown into the water well. These brutalities still continue to this day," a former Afghan military commander, who claimed anonymity told the NYT, according to Sputnik.
However, the Taliban officials have denied killings, saying the allegations are baseless and used as a propaganda tool by their opponents "in order to mislead the opinion of the world" about the Taliban.
The paper said that its staff conducted an investigation for seven months, using various methods to verify the data, including forensic video examinations, local media reports, and interviews with survivors, witnesses and family members of the victims, Sputnik reported.
The situation of human rights in Afghanistan has worsened since the collapse of the Afghan government and the Taliban's return to power in August last year. Thousands of Afghans fled the country fearful of the Taliban revenge and widespread violations of human rights. (ANI)