Rawadari: Targeted Killings in Afghanistan Rise by 30 Percent

Photo: AP Photo/Khwaja Tawfiq Sediqi via toronto.citynews

The human rights organization Rawadari has reported in its latest findings that in the first six months of 2025, cases of targeted, mysterious, and extrajudicial killings in Afghanistan have increased by around 30 percent.

According to the report, published on Saturday (August 30) at least 251 people, including 20 women and 12 children, were killed by the Taliban or unidentified individuals during this period. In the same timeframe in 2024, the figure was 193. Victims were mostly former government employees, protesters, tribal elders, and individuals accused of collaborating with Taliban opponents.

Rawadari stated that methods of killing included gunfire, the use of cold weapons, beheadings, and even burning victims. Some individuals were abducted, detained, threatened, or interrogated before being killed under suspicious circumstances.

The organization also documented at least 27 cases of enforced disappearances in the first half of this year. Victims were again mostly former government employees, tribal and religious elders, or individuals accused of supporting Taliban opposition groups.

Findings further show that during the same period, the Taliban arbitrarily detained at least 1,509 people, including 16 women. This figure is double that of last year and six times higher compared to 2023. Those detained include civil activists, journalists, women, social media users, and religious scholars.

Rawadari reported that in the first half of this year, four people died in Taliban prisons due to severe torture. The organization said most torture leading to death occurred in Taliban intelligence detention centers. Reported methods of torture include beatings, electric shocks, nail extraction, suffocation, simulated drowning, and sexual and religious insults.

The report also highlighted systematic discrimination by the Taliban against ethnic and religious minorities. Findings indicate that the Taliban have imposed widespread discrimination in the distribution of job opportunities, government services, and humanitarian aid, and in some provinces have even forced minorities to change their religion.

The organization additionally reminded that Taliban restrictions on women’s education, work, and movement remain in place, noting that women under Taliban rule have no access to justice and that cases of violence against them go unaddressed.

It is worth noting that since their return to power, the Taliban have repeatedly been accused of widespread human rights violations, from suppressing women and girls to discriminating against ethnic and religious minorities. UN experts have described these restrictions and violations as “crimes against humanity” and have called for accountability for the group.