Local sources report that Taliban fighters killed a young man named Mozamel Ayar Nikzad in Nijrab district of Kapisa province on Monday night, July 18. Residents said that Nikzad, who left home to go to his farm around 10:00pm, was shot at by the Taliban.
It has been reported that he was a member of the Afghanistan National Army in the previous government.
According to human rights organizations, despite the Taliban’s general amnesty announcement after their takeover on August 15, 2021, there have been many arbitrary killings in Panjshir and other northern provinces of Afghanistan.
The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) announced on Tuesday that 19.6 million people in Afghanistan face acute food insecurity. In a tweet, ICRC also confirmed the dramatic soaring of prices in the country.
According to the organization, the price of wheat flour has increased by 68 percent, cooking oil by 55 percent, diesel fuel by 93 percent, and fertilizer by 107 percent.
After the fall of the republic government in Afghanistan, a severe economic crisis has plagued Afghan citizens.
The spike in food prices along with the increase in poverty and unemployment has made life difficult for most Afghans across the country.
According to a United Nations survey, about 97% of Afghan people are struggling with poverty and hunger in Afghanistan.
A group of women protestors sought justice for the woman who is said to have been arbitrarily killed by the Taliban on Sunday, July 17.
Protestors called for the end of civilian killings in Panjshir. The protestors had gathered at an undisclosed location in order to maintain their security and stated that women and girls in Panjshir have no protection.
According to their statement, the Taliban has not fulfilled its promise to provide security and members of this group are acting arbitrarily in Panjshir and other provinces.
The statement added that “people aren’t raising their voice as they fear they might lose their lives”.
Protestors called “these crimes” shameful and said that supporting Taliban is a crime against humanity.
Adina Mohammad Azad, a retired colonel of the former Afghan National Army, has been arrested by the Taliban at a checkpoint in Banu-e Andarab district of Baghlan province on Monday, local sources said.
There has been no update regarding the condition of the retired colonel since Monday, his family stated, adding that they are concerned about him.
Colonel Adina Mohammad Azad, who had retired two years ago, had been detained when he was heading to Pul-e-Khumri city from Andarab district.
Azad has served at different posts in Afghanistan’s National Army, including as a senior commander of 209 Shahin Corps and director of intelligence of 217 Pamir Corps.
Azad's family said that he had been living as a civilian since the past two years.
Taliban had announced general amnesty after their takeover of Afghanistan on August 15, 2021, but they haven’t been committed to this promise. There have been many arrests, killings, and forced disappearances of people who opposed the Taliban and were former government employees.
Human rights organizations said that with the announcement of the amnesty, the group has used it as an opportunity to trap former employees of the government.
A group of prosecutors from the Afghanistan’s Attorney General office sent a collection of audio files to Afghanistan International and said that after Taliban’s takeover, 2,000-2,500 prosecutors have been fired across the country.
In the audio files, it has been said that at least 26 prosecutors have been killed.
In the latest case, local sources from Khost province said that Momtaz Shirzai, a prosecutor of the former government’s National Directorate of Security (NDS) and a teacher at a private university in Khost province, had been murdered on Saturday, July 16.
On Friday, July 15, Shirzai was kidnapped by unidentified men in Khost province. Earlier too, he had been imprisoned by the Taliban for 10 days, after the group’s takeover.
In the audio files that have been sent to Afghanistan International, some of the prosecutors expressed concerns over targeted assassination of Afghan prosecutors.
A female prosecutor said, “due to threats and chasing by criminals and Taliban,” she can’t reveal her name. She added that her colleagues have been fired despite having Masters and PHD degrees and having professional experience.
She said that “being a female” has been brought up as one of the reasons for the dismissal of the prosecutors. The prosecutor added that having experience of working in the previous government was also among other reasons for the dismissal.
She emphasized that the Taliban’s guards weren’t allowing female prosecutors to enter their offices.
In these files, it has been said that the Taliban used administrative employees of the AGO’s office till the time they got their own employees and then, they fired them.
This group of prosecutors said that administrative employees of the attorney general, are currently facing unemployment, assassination, force disappearance, arbitrary arrests and are taking refugee in other countries.
Prosecutors say that collective dismissal of prosecutors will weaken rule of law, will lead to more injustice and weakening of the justice system.
The female prosecutor added that her colleagues have been receiving threats from Taliban prisoners who have been released. Her colleagues are “being assassinated or are disappearing everyday”, she said.
Another prosecutor said that since they had checked criminal cases and had asked the court for their punishment in the light of law, the Taliban are hostile towards prosecutors, now that they are in power.
Taliban health officials on Monday said that over the past ten days at least 43 people have died due to cholera in Helmand, Kandahar, and Zabul provinces. The officials added that over 1,000 people have been infected with the disease.
According to Bakhtar News Agency, a Taliban-controlled media group, 390 people have been infected with cholera in the past 24 hours in the capital city and two other districts of Zabul province.
Taliban’s health officials said that mobile health teams have been deployed to the affected areas.
Cholera cases have increased in Zabul, Kandahar, and Helmand provinces in the past few months. Cholera is a type of infection in the intestine, which is mostly caused due to drinking contaminated water.