Alwaght- The United Nations in a report on civilian casualties in Afghanistan under Taliban control said about 400 civilians have been killed, with more than 80% of fatalities linked to an ISIS-affiliated group.
It is the first major human rights report since the Taliban seized power from the former US-backed government in August 2021, reflecting challenge the group has in stabilizing the war-torn country.
The UN report covers the period from August 2021 to the end of February and said that 397 civilians were killed mostly in a series of attacks by the ISIS in Khorasan Province, ISKP (ISIS-K) group.
More than 50 people with suspected ties to the armed group had been killed in the same period, it said, with some tortured and beheaded and left by the roadside.
"The human rights situation for many Afghans is of profound concern,” said Michelle Bachelet, High Commissioner for Human Rights, in a speech introducing the report to the top rights body in Geneva on Monday.
"Several suicide and non-suicide attacks were perpetrated by ISKP against Shia Muslims, mostly from the Hazara ethnic group,” she added.
ISKP, which first appeared in eastern Afghanistan in late 2014, is thought to have spread in the wake of the Taliban takeover and has been blamed for several attacks in recent months, including one at Kabul airport last August.
