4.1.2. Records of extrajudicial killings and other abuse

4.1.2. Records of extrajudicial killings and other abuse

Most recorded violations against former government officials and ANDSF members occurred in the months following the Taliban takeover in 2021 and 2022.1106 Research conducted by Human Rights Watch at the time indicated that more than 100 former members of the security forces were killed in the period 15 August–30 October 2021.1107 The New York Times released a documentary in April 2022, in which it stated that in the first semester of Taliban rule it had documented the killing or enforced disappearance of 490 former government officials and former ANDSF members. It also noted that many more killings likely occurred but remained unverified as victims’ relatives were too afraid of retribution to speak out.1108 Meanwhile, by 30 June 2023, UNAMA had documented 218 extrajudicial killings, and almost half had taken place during the first four and a half months of Taliban rule in 2021.1109

Former government officials and security personnel have continued to face retaliatory violence,1110 including extrajudicial killings, arbitrary arrests, torture and other ill-treatment.1111 In subsequent human rights reports by UNAMA covering 1 January–30 September 2025, the organisation documented 27 killings of former ANDSF members. UNAMA moreover documented 52 arbitrary arrests and detentions and 11 instances of torture and ill-treatment of both former civil and security personnel of the former government.1112 Several arrests documented in January–March 2025 had taken place in Panjsher and Kabul and ‘pertained to individuals affiliated with the former government of Afghanistan being arrested on allegations of affiliation with the National Resistance Front.’1113

Rawadari also recorded a decrease in killings but noted that the challenging information environment may be a possible explanation of the downward facing trend, rather than an improvement of the situation. In the first six months of 2025, the organisation recorded 20 killings of former government officials, in contrast with the same period in 2024 and 2023 when respectively 51 and 55 killings were recorded.1114