On August 30, eleven members of the Hazara ethnic group were executed by the Taliban in a tragic massacre. The Hazara ethnic group originated from central Afghanistan, becoming the third largest cultural group in Afghanistan. Many of the Hazara dispersed throughout Afghanistan due to poverty, or to escape the past Afghan War and poverty. They face routine discrimination by Taliban forces due to the their vastly different origins and beliefs in government and religion. This horrific execution loomed as Afghanistan fell to the Taliban in recent months due to the weakness of the Afghan National Security Forces (ANSF).

The ANSF–known as the Afghan National Security Forces–exists as a form of protection with its military power for the Republic of Afghanistan.  After the Taliban has taken over the country, their purpose of security has served to be fruitless, and the association as a whole has become corrupted.  It may have been due to the indifferent amount of support the United States has given them, or it could have been due to corrupt and unskillful soldiers who were part of the association [8].

The eleven Hazaras who were part of the ANSF were killed alongside many others. In the shooting, the Taliban executed and/or injured around twenty people either in the crossfire or in the direct line of fire. Of these victims, nine were former government soldiers that had surrendered to the Taliban after attempting to fight back.  Despite this, they were still executed. Some soldiers of the former government were unfortunately caught in the crossfire as well, adding onto the numerous injuries caused [1]. 

With these incriminating actions coming to light, the Taliban continued to justify the killings, even denying the many negative claims made against them. The Taliban promised former government workers liberties and amnesty (when people who have been convicted of political offenses receive a pardon), but this incident consequently contradicts that promise entirely.  This pardon was mostly granted to the ANSF members who worked for the previous government.  Even though the Taliban promised to grant certain individuals amnesty, they have fallen back on that promise as well, thus disrupting the freedom of these former government officials.  The Taliban will not confess to their wrongdoings and will continue to uphold their beliefs.  Mullah Nooruddin Turabi, one of the Taliban’s founders, justifies the incident by claiming  that the people should respect the Taliban’s laws given that  the previous government’s laws were respected as well [3].  

Unfortunately, this isn’t the only recent massacre that was committed by the Taliban. The Taliban shot former ANSF members, their family, and even innocent civilians on the same day: the 30th of August.  A 17-year-old girl named Masuma, who is one of the well-known victims, also died in this incident.  So far, the Taliban has not relented in their merciless killings. Many people were caught in the crossfire of all the shootings, including innocent civilians, other former government workers, and families of the government workers. The Taliban denies these allegations, claiming that this was all just “one side” of the story.  Their claims of not hurting anybody in Afghanistan, said by Zabiullah Mujahid of the Taliban [7], grant false hopes for the Hazaras.  

More people will become victims of the Taliban’s crimes because of the group’s failure to recognize the repercussions of their actions as something morally wrong.

Works Cited:

1. https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2021/10/5/taliban-killed-13-members-of-hazara-ethnic-group-report
2. https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-58807734
3. https://www.npr.org/2021/09/24/1040339286/taliban-official-says-strict-punishment-and-executions-will-return
4. https://theconversation.com/who-are-the-hazara-of-afghanistan-an-expert-on-islam-explains-166776
5. ​​https://apnews.com/article/religion-afghanistan-kabul-taliban-22f5107f1dbd19c8605b5b5435a9de54
6. https://www.latimes.com/world-nation/story/2021-10-05/taliban-unlawfully-killed-ethnic-hazaras
7. https://theworld.org/stories/2021-10-05/why-don-t-you-have-mercy-afghanistan-s-hazara-people-increasingly-face-eviction
8. https://www.timesofisrael.com/how-and-why-did-the-afghan-army-fall-so-quickly-to-the-taliban/