War crimes in Afghanistan covers the period of conflict from 1979 to the present. Starting with the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan in 1979, 40 years of civil war in various forms has wracked Afghanistan. War crimes have been committed by all sides.
Since the Taliban's emergence in the 1990s its crimes include extrajudicial killings of civilians during its period running the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan,[1][2] systematic killings of civilians and wartime sexual violence during the 2010s,[3][4] and executions of civilians during the 2021 Taliban offensive.[5][6][7][8]
Taliban[]
Extrajudicial killings of civilians[]
Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan (1996–2001)[]
In its military takeover of Mazar-i-Sharif starting on 8 August 1998, the Taliban shot dead and slit the throats of civilians, mostly Hazaras, and some Tajiks and Uzbeks, from around 10:30 until midday. Executions continued through 13 or 14 August.[1] The Taliban carried out massacres in May 2000 and January 2001, primarily of Hazaras. In the May 2000 Robotak Pass massacre, 31 people were killed by Taliban forces, among whom 26 were "positively identified as civilians" by Human Rights Watch (HRW). For four days starting on 8 January 2001, Taliban forces shot dead 170 civilians in Yakawlang by firing squad.[2]
Armed opposition (2001–2021)[]
The Afghanistan Independent Human Rights Commission (AIGRC) called the Taliban's terrorism against the Afghan civilian population a war crime.[9] According to Amnesty International, the Taliban commit war crimes by targeting civilians, including killing teachers, abducting aid workers and burning school buildings. Amnesty International said that 756 civilians were killed in 2006 from Taliban road bombs or suicide bombers.[10]
In 2010, the Taliban systematically killed civilians in Afghanistan, usually based on the claim that the victims supported the Afghan government. A journalist interviewed by Amnesty International said that village elders refusing to cooperate with the Taliban were executed and posthumously accused of being "American spies".[3]
NATO has alleged that the Taliban have used civilians as human shields. As an example, NATO pointed to the victims of NATO air strikes in Farah province in May 2009, during which the Afghan government claims up to 150 civilians were killed. NATO stated it had evidence the Taliban forced civilians into buildings likely to be targeted by NATO aircraft involved in the battle. A spokesman for the ISAF commander said: "This was a deliberate plan by the Taliban to create a civilian casualty crisis. These were not human shields; these were human sacrifices. We have intelligence that points to this."[11] According to the US State Department, the Taliban committed human rights violations against women in Afghanistan.[12]
In 2011, The New York Times reported that the Taliban was responsible for 3⁄4 of all civilian deaths in the war in Afghanistan.[13][14] United Nations reports have consistently blamed the Taliban and other anti-government forces for the majority of civilian deaths in the conflict.[15][16][5] In 2013 the UN stated that the Taliban had been placing bombs along transit routes.[17]
In 2015, Amnesty International reported that the Taliban committed mass murder and gang rape of Afghan civilians in Kunduz.[18] Taliban fighters killed and raped female relatives of police commanders and soldiers as well as midwives.[18] One female human rights activist described the situation in the following manner:[18]
"When the Taliban asserted their control over Kunduz, they claimed to be bringing law and order and Shari'a to the city. But everything they've done has violated both. I don't know who can rescue us from this situation."
In 2015 in Kunduz, Taliban death squads used a hit list of civilians – "activists, journalists and civil servants", carried out house-to-house searches and killed them. Taliban forces entered the house of a wounded woman and shot her fatally in the head.[4]
2021 Taliban offensive[]
During the first half of 2021, Taliban forces were responsible for killing 699 civilians according to United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA)[19][5] or 917 according to the Afghan Independent Human Rights Commission (AIHRC).[6] The Taliban were responsible for "the vast majority" of the destruction and looting of private homes and civilian infrastructure during May and June, according to UNAMA.[19][5] The US and other countries started to pull out remaining troops in early 2021.
On 12 May 2021, Sohail Pardis, who had worked for 16 months as a translator for United States armed forces in Afghanistan, was beheaded by the Taliban after being taken outside of his car.[7]
On 16 June, in Dawlat Abad, 22 unarmed Afghan Special Forces commandos were executed while attempting to surrender to Taliban forces. A video of the event circulated widely and was broadcast by CNN. Samira Hamidi of Amnesty International described the event as "the cold-blooded murder of surrendering soldiers – a war crime". She called for the event to be investigated as part of the International Criminal Court investigation in Afghanistan.[20]
In July 2021 in Kandahar, Taliban forces extrajudicially executed critics and people thought to have been members of province-level governments and their relatives. Patricia Gossman of HRW stated that the "Taliban commanders with oversight over such atrocities are also responsible for war crimes". She described the executions as "demonstrat[ing] the willingness of Taliban commanders to violently crush even the tamest criticism or objection".[8][21] Estimates of the number of civilians arbitrarily detained in the Taliban mid-July takeover of Spin Boldak range from 380[22] to 900,[21] with the number arbitrarily executed ranging from 40[23] to 100.[22]
In early July 2021 in Malestan District, Taliban forces killed civilians, looted private properties, set them on fire, and destroyed and looted shops.[24] During 4–6 July 2021 in Mundarakht in Malestan District, the Taliban extrajudicially executed nine Hazaras. Hazaras have previously been persecuted by the Taliban.[25] Three were tortured by Taliban security forces prior to their executions: Wahed Qaraman's legs and arms were broken, his hair was pulled out and he was beaten in the face; Jaffar Rahimi was severely beaten and strangled to death with his scarf; Sayed Abdul Hakim was beaten, had his arms tied and his legs shot before he was shot in the chest. Three were executed at a Taliban checkpoint and the other three were executed in Mundarakht.[26]
On 15 July 2021, photojournalist Danish Siddiqui was killed in Spin Boldak, either in crossfire between Afghan National Security Forces (ANSF) and the Taliban or by execution after being captured by the Taliban. His body was mutilated, leaving his face unrecognisable and tyre marks on his face and chest.[27]
On 22 July 2021, a popular comedian, Nazar Mohammad, known as "Khasha Zwan", was executed by the Taliban in Kandahar Province.[8][28]
In late July, four security force personnel and a hospital worker from Shakardara District were tortured by Taliban forces and executed. The cousin of one of the victims, Abdul Rahman, stated that the Taliban removed his cousin's eyes and tongue and ran a car over him before shooting him.[29] A commander in the Afghan forces, Abdul Hamid, was executed by the Taliban near Herat after being taken prisoner.[30]
On 6 August 2021, Taliban forces claimed responsibility for the 5 August assassination of Dawa Khan Menapal, head of the governmental media and information centre, in Kabul.[31] On the same day, during which the Taliban took control of Zaranj, human rights activist Laal Gul Laal stated that the execution of 30 soldiers by the Taliban was a war crime. According to TOLOnews, some of the soldiers were tortured and had their eyes removed by the Taliban before they were killed. The Taliban stated that the soldiers had been killed in combat.[32]
On 21 August 2021, a video showing Haji Mullah Achakzai, the ex-police chief of Badghis province, was shown blindfolded and restrained before he was shot to death by Taliban fighters at close range.[33] It was reported on 30 August 2021 that Ghulam Sakhi Akbari, ex-police chief of Farha province, was killed at the Kabul-Kandahar highway.[34]
On 2 September 2021, folk singer Fawad Andarab was executed by Taliban fighters after being taken from his house in Andarab Valley.[35]
On 5 September 2021, Arabic-speaking Taliban fighters were singled out as the culprits for murdering a pregnant ex-police officer named Banu Negar in Firozkoh. According to Negar's family, she was eight months pregnant when three Taliban gunmen arrived at her family's house and tied up all of its occupants, before beating and shooting Negar dead in front of her husband and children.[36]
According to a Human Rights Watch's report released in November 2021, the Taliban killed or forcibly disappeared more than 100 former members of the Afghan security forces in the three months since the takeover in just the four provinces of Ghazni, Helmand, Kandahar, and Kunduz. According to the report, the Taliban identified targets for arrest and execution through intelligence operations and access to employment records that were left behind. Former members of the security forces were also killed by the Taliban within days of registering with them to receive a letter guaranteeing their safety.[37]
Panjshir conflict[]
During the Panjshir conflict, the Taliban were accused of extrajudicial executions and blocking food supplies. A tribal elder said eight civilians were executed by them on 7 September.[38] Amrullah Saleh's son Shuresh stated that his father's brother Rohullah Azizi, who had been executed alongside his driver on 9 September by the Taliban, after being stopped at a checkpoint.[39] An investigative report published by the BBC on 13 September concluded that the Taliban had executed at least 20 civilians in Panjshir since they entered the valley at the beginning of September.[40] Agence France-Presse reporters, allowed into Panjshir on 15 September, interviewed residents who claimed the Taliban had executed 19 civilians between the village of Khenj and Bazarak, and prevented civilians from fleeing the province in order to use them as human shields.[41]
Sexual violence[]
In 2015 in Kunduz, Taliban forces carried out rape, including gang rape. One woman was gang-raped and executed by the Taliban as punishment for having provided reproductive health services to women.[4]
Analysis[]
Officially, the Taliban has policies forbidding its members from killing civilians, cutting off certain body parts (e.g., noses and ears), or employing suicide attacks against targets lacking significant military value. It has established nominally independent commissions and disseminated phone numbers for anonymous reporting of incidents involving civilian attacks by its members, many of whom have been expelled or severely punished for violations. Despite these efforts, thousands of Afghan civilians have been killed in Taliban attacks since 2001, with the United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA) attributing 74% of Afghan civilian casualties in 2013 to the Taliban. Max Abrahms states that the Taliban's leadership suffers from acute command and control problems due to the fractious nature of the organization and the impact of targeted killings of high-ranking Taliban officials by the U.S. military, which have tended to empower younger commanders more inclined to lash out against the civilian population. Abrahms found that when civilians are harmed, the Taliban often denies responsibility for attacks, sometimes even retracting initial claims of responsibility due to a mounting civilian death toll.[42]
Soviet Union[]
Northern Alliance[]
In December 2001, the Dasht-i-Leili massacre took place, where between 250 and 3,000 Taliban fighters who had surrendered, were shot and/or suffocated to death in metal truck containers during transportation by Northern Alliance forces. Reports place US ground troops at the scene.[43][44][45] The Irish documentary Afghan Massacre: The Convoy of Death investigated these allegations and claimed that mass graves of thousands of victims were found by UN investigators[46] and that the US blocked investigations into the incident.[47]
NATO and allies[]
2002 prisoner torture at Bagram Theater Internment Facility[]
In 2002, two unarmed civilian Afghan prisoners were tortured and later killed by US armed forces personnel at the Bagram Theater Internment Facility (also Bagram Collection Point or B.C.P.) in Bagram, Afghanistan.[48] The prisoners, Habibullah and Dilawar, were chained to the ceiling and beaten, which caused their deaths.[49] Military coroners ruled that both the prisoners' deaths were homicides.[50] Autopsies revealed severe trauma to both prisoners' legs, describing the trauma as comparable to being run over by a bus. Fifteen soldiers were charged.
2003 homicide of Abdul Wali[]
On 21 June 2003, David Passaro, a CIA contractor and former United States Army Ranger, killed Abdul Wali, a prisoner at a US base 16 km (10 mi) south of Asadabad, in Kunar Province. Passaro was found guilty of one count of felony assault with a dangerous weapon and three counts of misdemeanor assault. On 10 August 2009, he was sentenced to 8 years and 4 months in prison.[51][52]
2010 Kandahar homicides[]
During the summer of 2010, ISAF charged five United States Army soldiers with the murder of three Afghan civilians in Kandahar province and collecting their body parts as trophies in what came to be known as the Maywand District murders. In addition, seven soldiers were charged with crimes such as hashish use, impeding an investigation and attacking the whistleblower, Specialist Justin Stoner.[53][54][55] Eleven of the twelve soldiers were convicted on various counts.[56]
2011 Helmand murder[]
A British Royal Marine Sergeant, identified as Sergeant Alexander Blackman from Taunton, Somerset,[57] was convicted at court martial in Wiltshire of the murder of an unarmed, reportedly wounded, Afghan fighter in Helmand Province in September 2011.[58] In 2013, he received a life sentence from the court martial in Bulford, Wiltshire, and was dismissed with disgrace from the Royal Marines. In 2017, after appeal to the Court Martial Appeal Court (CMAC), his conviction was lessened to manslaughter on the grounds of diminished responsibility and the sentence was reduced to seven years effectively releasing Blackman due to time served.[59]
2012 Kandahar massacre[]
On 11 March 2012, the Kandahar massacre occurred when sixteen civilians were killed and six wounded in the Panjwayi District of Kandahar Province, Afghanistan.[60][61] Nine of the victims were children,[61] and eleven of the dead were from the same family.[62] United States Army Staff Sergeant Robert Bales was taken into custody and charged with sixteen counts of premeditated murder. Bales pleaded guilty to sixteen counts of premeditated murder as part of a plea deal to avoid a death sentence, and was subsequently sentenced to life in prison without parole and dishonorably discharged from the United States Army.[63]
2014 Amnesty International allegations[]
In November 2014, Amnesty International accused the Pentagon of covering up evidence related to war crimes, torture and unlawful killings in Afghanistan.[64]
2015 Kunduz hospital airstrike[]
On 3 October 2015, a USAF airstrike hit a hospital operated by Doctors Without Borders in Kunduz during the Battle of Kunduz. 42 people were killed and over 30 were injured in the airstrike.[65] Zeid Ra’ad al-Hussein, the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights said the airstrike may have been a war crime.[66] Eleven days after the airstrike, a US tank entered the hospital compound. Doctors Without Borders officials said: "Their unannounced and forced entry damaged property, destroyed potential evidence and caused stress and fear for the MSF team."[67] The United States Central Command's investigation concluded that personnel failed to comply with the rules of engagement and the law of armed conflict, but that the airstrike was not a war crime, due to the lack of intentionality. The investigation found that the incident resulted from a mixture of human errors and equipment failures, and that none of the personnel knew they were striking a medical facility,[68] Desk analysis by law professor Jens David Ohlin was inconclusive about a war crime being committed.[69] Doctors without Borders rejected the US internal investigation, noting that it was undertaken by a party to the conflict and stated the bombing of a hospital was a violation of international humanitarian law.[70]
2018 US snub of the International Criminal Court[]
In September 2018, the United States threatened to arrest and impose sanctions on International Criminal Court (ICC) judges and other officials if they charged any US soldiers who served in Afghanistan with war crimes.[71] The US further stated it would not cooperate with the ICC if it carried out an investigation into allegations of war crimes by the US in Afghanistan.[72] On 12 April 2019 a panel of ICC judges decided not to open an investigation regarding Afghanistan. The Court's chief prosecutor Fatou Bensouda provided a report that established "a reasonable basis" that crimes had been committed, but they decided against continuing because the US and other parties would not cooperate.[73][74] In March 2020, senior judges at the ICC called for the investigation into war crimes by the US, Afghan and Taliban troops in Afghanistan, overturning the previous rejection of a probe into the US’ role in committing war crimes.[75]
War crimes by the Australian Defence Force[]
Australian whistleblower David McBride leaked classified documents to ABC journalists in 2017, who went on to produce a series called The Afghan Files.[76] The documents covered a wide range of topics, including multiple cases of unlawful killings of unarmed civilians.[77] In response to the leak, the Australian Federal Police raided the ABC's offices in June 2019.[78] The Inspector-General of the Australian Defence Force publicly released a redacted version of the Afghanistan Inquiry, otherwise known as the Brereton Report,[79] in November 2020, detailing misconduct by Australian troops in Afghanistan, predominantly the SAS.[80] It found evidence of 39 unlawful killings by Australian forces, including murdering non-combatants and the execution of prisoners, resulting in the disbandment of an SAS squadron and a police investigation.[81]
Investigations into further unlawful killings continue among reporting of an alleged incident of Australian forces killing a bound prisoner. [82][83] The platoon commander of the allegedly responsible unit, Heston Russell, refutes these claims.[84] [85]
On 12 November of 2020, following the completion of the Brereton Report, Prime Minister Scott Morrison established the Office of the Special Investigator.[86] This was approved by the Governor General as an Executive Agency, with Chris Moraitis appointed as the Director General in January 2021.[87][88] During an Australian Senate Estimates hearing in February 2023, Moraitis described the agency as "an investigative body trying to enforce Australian criminal law" and stated that they were investigating between 40 and 50 alleged offences, with the first brief of evidence being due to be handed to prosecutors in the middle of that year.[88]
In June 2023, a defamation lawsuit brought by Australian soldier Ben Roberts-Smith against the Sydney Morning Herald, Age and Canberra Times for linking him to war crimes was dismissed.[89] The judge determined that based on civil standard of the "balance of probabilities" the claims were proven.[89]
White phosphorus use[]
White phosphorus has been condemned by human rights organizations as cruel and inhumane because it causes severe burns. White phosphorus burns on the bodies of civilians wounded in clashes near Bagram were confirmed. The US claims at least 44 instances in which militants have used white phosphorus in weapons or attacks.[90] In May 2009, the US confirmed that Western military forces in Afghanistan use white phosphorus to illuminate targets or as an incendiary to destroy bunkers and enemy equipment.[91][92] US forces used white phosphorus to screen a retreat in the Battle of Ganjgal when regular smoke munitions were not available.[93]
Legal investigations[]
International Criminal Court[]
An International Criminal Court (ICC) investigation in Afghanistan was authorised to proceed in 2020, after the collection of information from victims during 2017 and 2018, a 2019 request to open an investigation, a rejection of the request, and an overturning of the rejection of the request. The investigation concerns war crimes and crimes against humanity committed since 1 May 2003, in the context of the war in Afghanistan, by the Taliban and affiliated armed groups, war crimes by the Afghan National Security Forces, and war crimes committed in Afghanistan, Poland, Romania and Lithuania by United States Armed Forces and the United States Central Intelligence Agency (CIA).[94][95]
Afghan Independent Human Rights Commission[]
The Afghan Independent Human Rights Commission (AIHRC) published a brief report after investigating the Taliban takeover of Spin Boldak on 14 July 2021 through "reliable local sources", and interviews with witnesses and victims' families. The AIHRC found that the Taliban forces killed 40 civilians and looted private properties, in violation of international humanitarian law.[23]
Afghan Unlawful Killings inquiry[]
On 22 March 2023, the British government launched a public inquiry into alleged extrajudicial killings committed by UKSF personnel in Afghanistan between 2010 and 2013, including during the 2012 Shesh Aba raid.[96]
See also[]
- Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant – Khorasan Province#Claimed and alleged attacks
References[]
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 "III. The first day of the takeover". 1998. https://www.hrw.org/reports98/afghan/Afrepor0-02.htm.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 "Afghanistan – Massacres of Hazaras in Afghanistan – Summary". 2001. https://www.hrw.org/reports/2001/afghanistan/afghan101.htm.
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 "Taliban Leaders Should Be Prosecuted for War Crimes in Afghanistan". 2010-08-10. https://www.amnesty.org/en/latest/news/2010/08/procesar-talibanes-crimenes-guerra-afganistan.
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 "Afghanistan: Harrowing accounts emerge of the Taliban's reign of terror in Kunduz". 2015-10-01. https://www.amnesty.org/en/latest/news/2015/10/afghanistan-harrowing-accounts-emerge-of-the-talibans-reign-of-terror-in-kunduz.
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 5.3 "Afghanistan – Protection of civilians in armed conflict midyear update: 1 January to 30 June 2021". 2021-07-25. https://unama.unmissions.org/sites/default/files/unama_poc_midyear_report_2021_26_july.pdf.
- ↑ 6.0 6.1 "Summary Report on Civilian Casualties in the First Six Months of 2021". 2021-08-01. https://www.aihrc.org.af/home/research_report/91124.
- ↑ 7.0 7.1 Sidhu, Sandi; Coren, Anna; Regan, Helen; Bina, Abdul Basir (2021-07-23). "Afghan interpreter for US Army was beheaded by Taliban. Others fear they will be hunted down too". https://edition.cnn.com/2021/07/22/asia/afghanistan-interpreters-taliban-reprisals-intl-hnk/index.html.
- ↑ 8.0 8.1 8.2 "Afghanistan: Mounting Taliban Revenge Killings – Insurgents Beat, Execute Popular Comedian in Kandahar". 2021-07-30. https://www.hrw.org/news/2021/07/30/afghanistan-mounting-taliban-revenge-killings.
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- ↑ "Country Reports on Human Rights Practices". 2003. https://2001-2009.state.gov/g/drl/rls/hrrpt/2003/27943.htm.
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- ↑ Kegley, Charles W.; Shannon L Blanton (2011). World Politics: Trend and Transformation. Cengage. p. 230. ISBN 978-0-495-90655-1.
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- ↑ 18.0 18.1 18.2 "Afghanistan: Harrowing accounts emerge of the Taliban's reign of terror in Kunduz". 1 October 2015. https://www.amnesty.org/en/latest/news/2015/10/afghanistan-harrowing-accounts-emerge-of-the-talibans-reign-of-terror-in-kunduz/.
- ↑ 19.0 19.1 "New UNAMA Civilian Casualties report: The human cost of the Taleban push to take territory". 2021-07-26. https://www.afghanistan-analysts.org/en/reports/war-and-peace/new-unama-civilian-casualties-report-the-human-cost-of-the-taleban-push-to-take-territory.
- ↑ Coren, Anna; Sidhu, Sandi; Lister, Tim; Bina, Abdul Basir (2021-07-14). "Taliban fighters execute 22 Afghan commandos as they try to surrender". https://edition.cnn.com/2021/07/13/asia/afghanistan-taliban-commandos-killed-intl-hnk/index.html.
- ↑ 21.0 21.1 Shaheed, Anisa (2021-08-04). "Taliban Killed 'Possibly 800-900 People' in Kandahar: Tadin Khan". https://tolonews.com/afghanistan-173981.
- ↑ 22.0 22.1 Shaheed, Anisa (2021-07-22). "Sources Allege 100 Civilians Killed After Fall of Spin Boldak". https://tolonews.com/afghanistan-173674.
- ↑ 23.0 23.1 "Violations of International Humanitarian Law in Spin Boldak District of Kandahar Province". 2021-07-31. https://www.aihrc.org.af/home/thematic-reports/91121.
- ↑ Rahimi, Zahra (2021-07-22). "'43 People Killed by Taliban' in Ghazni, Residents Claim". https://tolonews.com/afghanistan-173736.
- ↑ "Afghanistan: Taliban 'tortured and massacred' men from Hazara minority". 2021-08-20. https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-58277463.
- ↑ "Afghanistan: Taliban responsible for brutal massacre of Hazara men – new investigation". 2021-08-19. https://www.amnesty.org/en/latest/news/2021/08/afghanistan-taliban-responsible-for-brutal-massacre-of-hazara-men-new-investigation/.
- ↑ Mashal, Mujib (2021-07-31). "Body of Reuters Photographer Was Mutilated in Taliban Custody, Officials Say". https://www.nytimes.com/2021/07/31/world/asia/danish-siddiqui-afghanistan-photographer.html.
- ↑ Ansar, Massoud (2021-07-29). "EU Says Govt Can't Tell Media What The National Interest Is". https://tolonews.com/index.php/afghanistan/attack-mediajournalists-173812.
- ↑ Ansar, Massoud (2021-07-23). "Residents Claim Taliban Killed 5 People in Kabul District". https://tolonews.com/afghanistan-173730.
- ↑ Salehi, Naser Ahmad (2021-07-31). "Taliban Gets Closer to Herat City as Clashes Intensify". https://tolonews.com/afghanistan-173868.
- ↑ "Head of Govt's Media, Information Center Assassinated". 2021-08-06. https://tolonews.com/afghanistan-174017.
- ↑ "Taliban Captures Capital of Nimroz Province". 2021-08-06. https://tolonews.com/afghanistan-174026.
- ↑ "Afghanistan: Taliban execute police chief despite promising not to seek retribution". new.au.com. https://www.news.com.au/world/middle-east/afghanistan-taliban-execute-police-chief-despite-promising-not-to-seek-retribution/news-story/7473f8a8c66ec8d87a502cdfa6186112. Retrieved 2021-10-17.
- ↑ "Growing reports of detentions and Taliban reprisals against former regime officials". The Irish Times. https://www.irishtimes.com/news/world/asia-pacific/growing-reports-of-detentions-and-taliban-reprisals-against-former-regime-officials-1.4659245. Retrieved 2021-10-17.
- ↑ "Fear of music: Afghan folk singer executed by the Taliban". The Jakarta Post. https://www.thejakartapost.com/life/2021/09/02/fear-of-music-afghan-folk-singer-executed-by-the-taliban.html. Retrieved 2021-10-17.
- ↑ "Afghanistan: Taliban accused of killing pregnant police officer". BBC News. 5 September 2021. https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-58455826. Retrieved 2021-10-17.
- ↑ "Executions and Enforced Disappearances in Afghanistan under the Taliban". 30 November 2021. https://www.hrw.org/report/2021/11/30/no-forgiveness-people-you/executions-and-enforced-disappearances-afghanistan.
- ↑ Nawaz Khan, Haq; Fahim, Kareem; Hudson, John (2021-09-10). "Taliban fighters tighten grip in rebellious Panjshir region with killings and food control, witness says" (in en-US). https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2021/09/10/taliban-crackdown-protests-united-nations/.
- ↑ "Brother of former Afghan VP killed by Taliban" (in en). Deutsche Welle. 2021-09-11. https://www.dw.com/en/brother-of-former-afghan-vp-killed-by-taliban/a-59152335.
- ↑ "Afghanistan crisis: Taliban kill civilians in resistance stronghold". BBC. 13 September 2021. https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-58545892.
- ↑ "'No one left': Afghanistan's Panjshir is now the realm of ghost towns and old men". Agence France-Presse. India Today. 17 September 2021. https://www.indiatoday.in/world/story/no-one-left-afghanistan-panjshir-ghost-towns-old-men-taliban-1853860-2021-09-17.
- ↑ Abrahms, Max (2018). Rules for Rebels: The Science of Victory in Militant History. Oxford University Press. pp. 157-160, 173-175. ISBN 9780192539441.
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- ↑ "Archived copy". https://info.publicintelligence.net/CENTCOM-KunduzHospitalAttack.pdf.
- ↑ Ohlin, Jens David (2016-05-01). "Was the Kunduz Hospital Attack a War Crime?" (in en-US). http://opiniojuris.org/2016/05/01/was-the-kunduz-hospital-attack-a-war-crime/.
- ↑ Hanna, Masoud Popalzai,Ben Brumfield,Steve Almasy,Jason (2015-10-04). "Medical charity urges independent inquiry after Afghan hospital blown apart" (in en). https://www.cnn.com/2015/10/04/asia/afghanistan-doctors-without-borders-hospital/index.html.
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- ↑ Gazis, Olivia (12 April 2019). Bolton claims victory as International Criminal Court rejects investigation into alleged US war crimes Archived 15 April 2019 at the Wayback Machine.. CBS News. Retrieved 14 April 2019.
- ↑ Kennedy, Merrit (12 April 2019). ICC Rejects Probe Into US Actions in Afghanistan Archived 14 April 2019 at the Wayback Machine.. NPR. Retrieved 14 April 2019.
- ↑ "Senior ICC judges authorise Afghanistan war crimes inquiry". 5 March 2020. https://www.theguardian.com/law/2020/mar/05/senior-icc-judges-authorise-afghanistan-war-crimes-inquiry.
- ↑ "Afghan Files military whistleblower David McBride back before ACT court" (in en). 22 August 2019. https://www.sbs.com.au/news/afghan-files-military-whistleblower-david-mcbride-back-before-act-court.
- ↑ Script error: No such module "cite news".
- ↑ Knowles, Lorna; Worthington, Elise; Blumer, Clare (5 June 2019). "Police leave ABC headquarters with files after hours-long raid over special forces stories" (in en-AU). https://www.abc.net.au/news/2019-06-05/abc-raided-by-australian-federal-police-afghan-files-stories/11181162.
- ↑ Australian Government Department of Defence (16 November 2020). "IGADF AFGHANISTAN INQUIRY REPORT". https://afghanistaninquiry.defence.gov.au/sites/default/files/2020-11/IGADF-Afghanistan-Inquiry-Public-Release-Version.pdf.
- ↑ "SAS soldiers made to shoot prisoners to get their first kill, 39 Afghans 'murdered', inquiry finds" (in en-AU). 19 November 2020. https://www.abc.net.au/news/2020-11-19/afghanistan-war-crimes-report-igadf-paul-brereton-released/12896234.
- ↑ Script error: No such module "cite news".
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- ↑ "Australian Army Commando Hits Back At Allegations Of Misconduct In Afghanistan" (in en). The Project. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dewC14D9vmQ.
- ↑ "Letter to the ABC". 25 October 2021. https://vsf.org.au/abc.
- ↑ Galloway, Nick McKenzie, Chris Masters, Anthony (2020-11-12). "Ten SAS soldiers under investigation by war crimes investigators over 12 Afghan deaths" (in en). https://www.theage.com.au/national/ten-sas-soldiers-under-investigation-by-war-crimes-investigators-over-12-afghan-deaths-20201112-p56e4a.html.
- ↑ "Australian Government Directory". https://www.directory.gov.au/people/chris-moraitis.
- ↑ 88.0 88.1 Doherty, Ben (2023-02-14). "Investigators of alleged war crimes by Australians in Afghanistan set to hand over first brief of evidence" (in en-GB). The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2023/feb/14/investigators-of-alleged-war-crimes-by-australians-in-afghanistan-set-to-hand-over-first-brief-of-evidence.
- ↑ 89.0 89.1 Doherty, Ben (1 June 2023). "Ben Roberts-Smith loses defamation case with judge saying newspapers established truth of murders". https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2023/jun/01/ben-roberts-smith-loses-defamation-case-with-judge-saying-newspapers-established-truth-of-some-murders.
- ↑ Script error: No such module "cite news".
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- ↑ Jonathan S. Landay. "'We're pinned down:' 4 US Marines die in Afghan ambush". McClatchy. http://www.mcclatchydc.com/2009/09/08/75036/were-pinned-down-4-us-marines.html.
- ↑ "Focus: Alleged crimes against humanity and war crimes committed in Afghanistan since 1 May 2003". International Criminal Court. 2019-04-09. https://www.icc-cpi.int/afghanistan.
- ↑ "ICC authorises investigation into alleged Afghanistan war crimes". 2020-03-05. https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2020/03/icc-authorises-investigation-alleged-afghanistan-war-crimes-200305101406253.html.
- ↑ "UK opens inquiry into unlawful killing claims in Afghanistan" (in en). 2023-03-22. https://apnews.com/article/uk-afghanistan-inquiry-unlawful-killings-b5c98d832d2b1d8382a3b1bcaf4da9cc.
The original article can be found at War crimes in Afghanistan and the edit history here.