A detailed report has been released by UN on the siege of Kunduz province from 28 September to 13 October 2015 by Taliban.
Taliban terrorists killed scores of innocent civilians as well as security personnel and government employees during their assault.
Some excerpts from the UN report:
Citizens of Kunduz were subjected to a horrifying ordeal. The street by street fighting coupled with a breakdown of the rule of law created an environment where civilians were subjected to shooting, other forms of violence, abductions, denial of medical care and restrictions of movement out of the city.”
.....
Desecration of the Deceased by Parties to the Conflict
Although not the main focus of the report (which is on the treatment of civilians), UNAMA received reports of mutilation and other maltreatment of bodies of fighters by both Taliban and Afghan security forces during and after fighting in the Northeastern region, including in Kunduz city, between 28 September and 13 October. Local sources reported that the maltreatment included alleged beheadings of dead Afghan security forces by Taliban, alleged mutilation of Taliban fighters’ bodies by Afghan security forces (dragging Taliban fighters’ bodies behind vehicles in Kunduz city) and preventing accepted Islamic burial practices by both parties to the conflict. Sources reported that the Taliban prevented families from retrieving and burying bodies of their relatives while they also accused Afghan security forces of burying Taliban fighters in mass graves without Islamic burial rights.
In addition, as fighting continued across the Northeastern region, UNAMA received credible reports that between 1 and 2 October, in Warduj district, Badakhshan province, the Taliban beheaded up to 17 members of Afghan security forces. On 3 October, reportedly in retaliation, Afghan security forces members allegedly opened fire on 13 suspected Taliban members who were in the custody of Afghan security forces in Baharak district of the same province. Some sources reported that the shooting caused a fire, which burned the bodies of the 13 detainees. It is unclear whether the detainees died from bullet wounds and ANSF subsequently burned their corpses or if they were burned alive.
Desecration of the deceased may amount to a war crime; customary law of armed conflict prohibits mutilation or other maltreatment of dead bodies.
.....
II. Civilian Casualties
The Taliban occupation of Kunduz city was the first prolonged urban combat situation in Afghanistan since 2001. The heavy ground fighting caused extreme suffering for civilians living in the city. The civilian casualty toll from this approximately two-week period in Kunduz is almost equivalent to 10 per cent of all civilian casualties documented by UNAMA in the entire country during 2014, the most violent year documented by UNAMA since 2009.
From the start of the Taliban attack on Kunduz city on 28 September, until 13 October, when the Taliban withdrew from the city, UNAMA recorded a preliminary figure of 848 civilian casualties (289 deaths and 559 injured) from incidents in the city and surrounding districts. The vast majority of civilian casualties reportedly resulted from ground fighting between Taliban fighters and Afghan security forces, although UNAMA received reports of civilian casualties from deliberate killings and aerial operations, including the preliminary figure of 67 casualties (30 dead and 37 injured) resulting from the airstrike on the MSF hospital in Kunduz on 3 October.
Due to access limitations and significant operational disruption, UNAMA continues to investigate additional reports of civilian casualties, and estimates that the final verified figures are likely to be higher.
UNAMA is not yet able to fully disaggregate the casualty figures it has compiled by age or gender. However, they include at least 122 women (43 killed and 79 injured) and 162 children (23 killed and 139 injured).
........
Deliberate Killings
“On the second day that the Taliban captured Kunduz province, at around 10 am, an RPG hit our neighbour’s house, I heard wailing and crying and I immediately went to find out what had happened. I saw that her young daughter was wounded. My neighbour wanted to take her to hospital but at that moment the house gate opened and two Taliban entered. They asked what had happened and my neighbour explained that her daughter was wounded by RPG shrapnel. The Taliban asked us to leave them alone with the victim. They then shot and killed the wounded girl and told her mother that she had been martyred. I saw this incident with my eyes and on that day I decided to leave Kunduz.” - UNAMA interview with an IDP, 10 October 2015, Mazar-e-Sharif city, Balkh province.
UNAMA received multiple reports that members of the Taliban had intentionally killed civilians during the fighting in Kunduz, in violation of international humanitarian law and international human rights law.
On 29 September, in a similar incident to the account above, a member of the Taliban reportedly shot and killed a woman in front of her two children after she was severely wounded by a mortar round that hit her house.
......
Reports of Parallel Justice Executions
UNAMA also received multiple reports that Taliban conducted parallel justice executions in the northeastern part of the city, with at least three men executed at one location, and one elderlycivilian man reportedly publicly hanged. Witnesses stated that they had observed Taliban questioning persons suspected of working for the Government or Afghan security forces.
........
VI. Recruitment and Use of Children in Hostilities
“Most of the Taliban are underage. When I was leaving Kunduz, I saw six or seven people who werecarrying guns. They were young and even one of them looked like a 12-year old. The armed childrenwere fighting along with the Taliban against Afghan security forces.”
- UNAMA interview with an IDP, 10 October 2015, Faizabad city, Badakhshan province
UNAMA received consistent, credible reports that the Taliban used large numbers of child soldiersduring the attack on Kunduz.
UNAMA sources indicated that medical facilities in Kunduz treated ‘at least 200’ injured child fightersbetween 28 September and 13 October. Most of them are boys and are reportedly aged between 10and 17. Credible sources reported that many of the boys complained that they had been forced totake up arms by Taliban who threatened that their families would be harmed if they refused.
One witness reported seeing a child soldier being shot by Taliban as he was trying to escape:
“The Taliban were asking children to carry bags of ammunition on their backs as well as to drag thecart of ammunition. These children were paid up to 3000 AFS. The Taliban forced one of [the boy’s]friends to carry the bag of ammunition. As he tried to escape, he was shot dead by the Taliban.”
- UNAMA interview with a 10-year old boy IDP from Kunduz, 8 October 2015, Kabul.
For full report see: http://www.ohchr.org/Documents/Countries/AF/KunduzReport.pdf
Taliban terrorists killed scores of innocent civilians as well as security personnel and government employees during their assault.
Some excerpts from the UN report:
Citizens of Kunduz were subjected to a horrifying ordeal. The street by street fighting coupled with a breakdown of the rule of law created an environment where civilians were subjected to shooting, other forms of violence, abductions, denial of medical care and restrictions of movement out of the city.”
.....
Desecration of the Deceased by Parties to the Conflict
Although not the main focus of the report (which is on the treatment of civilians), UNAMA received reports of mutilation and other maltreatment of bodies of fighters by both Taliban and Afghan security forces during and after fighting in the Northeastern region, including in Kunduz city, between 28 September and 13 October. Local sources reported that the maltreatment included alleged beheadings of dead Afghan security forces by Taliban, alleged mutilation of Taliban fighters’ bodies by Afghan security forces (dragging Taliban fighters’ bodies behind vehicles in Kunduz city) and preventing accepted Islamic burial practices by both parties to the conflict. Sources reported that the Taliban prevented families from retrieving and burying bodies of their relatives while they also accused Afghan security forces of burying Taliban fighters in mass graves without Islamic burial rights.
In addition, as fighting continued across the Northeastern region, UNAMA received credible reports that between 1 and 2 October, in Warduj district, Badakhshan province, the Taliban beheaded up to 17 members of Afghan security forces. On 3 October, reportedly in retaliation, Afghan security forces members allegedly opened fire on 13 suspected Taliban members who were in the custody of Afghan security forces in Baharak district of the same province. Some sources reported that the shooting caused a fire, which burned the bodies of the 13 detainees. It is unclear whether the detainees died from bullet wounds and ANSF subsequently burned their corpses or if they were burned alive.
Desecration of the deceased may amount to a war crime; customary law of armed conflict prohibits mutilation or other maltreatment of dead bodies.
.....
II. Civilian Casualties
The Taliban occupation of Kunduz city was the first prolonged urban combat situation in Afghanistan since 2001. The heavy ground fighting caused extreme suffering for civilians living in the city. The civilian casualty toll from this approximately two-week period in Kunduz is almost equivalent to 10 per cent of all civilian casualties documented by UNAMA in the entire country during 2014, the most violent year documented by UNAMA since 2009.
From the start of the Taliban attack on Kunduz city on 28 September, until 13 October, when the Taliban withdrew from the city, UNAMA recorded a preliminary figure of 848 civilian casualties (289 deaths and 559 injured) from incidents in the city and surrounding districts. The vast majority of civilian casualties reportedly resulted from ground fighting between Taliban fighters and Afghan security forces, although UNAMA received reports of civilian casualties from deliberate killings and aerial operations, including the preliminary figure of 67 casualties (30 dead and 37 injured) resulting from the airstrike on the MSF hospital in Kunduz on 3 October.
Due to access limitations and significant operational disruption, UNAMA continues to investigate additional reports of civilian casualties, and estimates that the final verified figures are likely to be higher.
UNAMA is not yet able to fully disaggregate the casualty figures it has compiled by age or gender. However, they include at least 122 women (43 killed and 79 injured) and 162 children (23 killed and 139 injured).
........
Deliberate Killings
“On the second day that the Taliban captured Kunduz province, at around 10 am, an RPG hit our neighbour’s house, I heard wailing and crying and I immediately went to find out what had happened. I saw that her young daughter was wounded. My neighbour wanted to take her to hospital but at that moment the house gate opened and two Taliban entered. They asked what had happened and my neighbour explained that her daughter was wounded by RPG shrapnel. The Taliban asked us to leave them alone with the victim. They then shot and killed the wounded girl and told her mother that she had been martyred. I saw this incident with my eyes and on that day I decided to leave Kunduz.” - UNAMA interview with an IDP, 10 October 2015, Mazar-e-Sharif city, Balkh province.
UNAMA received multiple reports that members of the Taliban had intentionally killed civilians during the fighting in Kunduz, in violation of international humanitarian law and international human rights law.
On 29 September, in a similar incident to the account above, a member of the Taliban reportedly shot and killed a woman in front of her two children after she was severely wounded by a mortar round that hit her house.
......
Reports of Parallel Justice Executions
UNAMA also received multiple reports that Taliban conducted parallel justice executions in the northeastern part of the city, with at least three men executed at one location, and one elderlycivilian man reportedly publicly hanged. Witnesses stated that they had observed Taliban questioning persons suspected of working for the Government or Afghan security forces.
........
VI. Recruitment and Use of Children in Hostilities
“Most of the Taliban are underage. When I was leaving Kunduz, I saw six or seven people who werecarrying guns. They were young and even one of them looked like a 12-year old. The armed childrenwere fighting along with the Taliban against Afghan security forces.”
- UNAMA interview with an IDP, 10 October 2015, Faizabad city, Badakhshan province
UNAMA received consistent, credible reports that the Taliban used large numbers of child soldiersduring the attack on Kunduz.
UNAMA sources indicated that medical facilities in Kunduz treated ‘at least 200’ injured child fightersbetween 28 September and 13 October. Most of them are boys and are reportedly aged between 10and 17. Credible sources reported that many of the boys complained that they had been forced totake up arms by Taliban who threatened that their families would be harmed if they refused.
One witness reported seeing a child soldier being shot by Taliban as he was trying to escape:
“The Taliban were asking children to carry bags of ammunition on their backs as well as to drag thecart of ammunition. These children were paid up to 3000 AFS. The Taliban forced one of [the boy’s]friends to carry the bag of ammunition. As he tried to escape, he was shot dead by the Taliban.”
- UNAMA interview with a 10-year old boy IDP from Kunduz, 8 October 2015, Kabul.
For full report see: http://www.ohchr.org/Documents/Countries/AF/KunduzReport.pdf
