Taliban Killed Injured Security Forces Members In 400-Bed Hospital After Fall, Says Saleh

After capturing Kabul in August 2021, the Taliban killed wounded government security forces who were being treated in a 400-bed hospital and dumped their bodies in containers, Amrullah Saleh, former Afghan vice president wrote.

He claimed that the Red Cross had buried the bodies of the victims. The Taliban entered Kabul on August 15, 2021, without a fight, after former Afghan President Ashraf Ghani fled, and announced a "general amnesty”.

However, reports from international organisations and former officials indicate that the Taliban continued to take revenge on former military personnel.

Saleh wrote on social platfrom X on Sunday that the Taliban shot wounded soldiers in a 400-bed hospital just one day after entering Kabul. He added that a Taliban official, in order to deflect responsibility for the crime, reported the discovery of a container full of bodies to the media.

The opposition figure also claimed that about 1,200 people in Kunar and Nangarhar provinces were killed without trial between 2021 and 2022 by a person named Dr. Bashir, the Taliban's provincial intelligence chief.

Saleh also said that at the same time, the bodies of local soldiers were left in the alleys of Kandahar city. The Taliban discarded the bodies simply because of the stench and the Red Cross buried them, he added.

At the time, there were reports that the Taliban had taken revenge on the Achakzai tribe, which belonged to Gen. Raziq, a well-known Kandahar police commander. According to these reports, hundreds of members of this tribe were killed by the Taliban.

Reliable news and human rights sources have not yet confirmed Saleh's claims about the deaths of wounded soldiers in the 400-bed hospital and the stench of the bodies of former soldiers in Kandahar.

Amrullah Saleh also claimed that the "drafters of the Doha Agreement" prevented media coverage of these events in order to prevent the exposure of these crimes.

Referring to the differences between the Taliban's opponents, he said, "The damage and pain caused by the Taliban's takeover has reached all corners of the country, but its severity is not the same."

Saleh went on to emphasise that Taliban leaders have no place among the people. "If the vote is held tomorrow, many Taliban leaders will not even get enough votes to be members of the provincial councils," he said. “That's why they hate voting and elections. The Taliban's opposition to the elections has no religious basis, but stems from their awareness of the extent of people's hatred of them,” he added.