Richard Bennett, the UN special rapporteur on human rights in Afghanistan, has called for an independent investigation into the killing of 11 people by Taliban security forces in Kabul.
The Taliban said on 1 August that seven people had been killed in Kabul’s eighth police district, describing them as “armed robbers”.
Bennett wrote on X on Monday that reports of people being killed during Taliban security operations in Kabul were concerning.
He referred to the shooting of four people on Monday and the killing of seven others in recent days in the eighth police district, saying the incidents should be investigated urgently and impartially.
He added that the use of lethal force must comply with international human rights law and the principles of necessity and proportionality.
Taliban police said on Monday, 10 August, that four people had been killed in Kabul’s 18th police district.
Khalid Zadran, spokesman for the Taliban police command in Kabul, said the men were “armed” and had entered a house to steal.
According to him, Taliban forces clashed with the men after arriving at the scene.
The Taliban said all four were killed and that two pistols were recovered from them.
Nine days earlier, Taliban forces killed seven other people in the Stanikzai Blocks area of Kabul’s eighth police district.
Zadran said those men were also “armed robbers” and had opened fire on Taliban forces first.
He said one Taliban member was wounded in the clash and that a vehicle and several weapons were seized.
According to information received by Afghanistan International, some of those killed were Hazara.
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