Kandahar municipality buries 20 dead bodies

Taliban municipality in Kandahar buries 20 unidentified bodies

The Taliban municipality in Kandahar has buried a total of 20 unidentified dead bodies found from different parts of the southern province over the past 12 months. “Some of them are shot dead, some are hanged, others are either suffocated or beheaded,” said a local health official.

According to Mohammad Musa Mohammad Nawaz, head of forensics at the Taliban Directorate of Public Health in Kandahar, these dead bodies were found from Kandahar’s capital and districts and transferred to Kandahar’ Regional Hospital over the past one year.

“These people are killed in different incidents. Some are shot dead, some are hanged, others are either suffocated or beheaded,” he detailed, adding that the victim’s families still remained unknown.

Izmaray Sargand, spokesperson for the Taliban’s municipality in Kandahar, confirmed that the municipality has buried 20 dead bodies after receiving them from Kandahar’s public health directorate. Women and children were also among them, the local Taliban official said.

He confirmed that Kandahar’s municipality has buried a total of 90 dead bodies ever since the Taliban returned to power in August 2021.

The reason behind this increase in mysterious murders, according to some Kandahar residents, is the increase in criminal cases.

“Our home is located near the cemetery. We often see they bring these dead bodies here for burial. The people get killed on their ways to work but their families are not informed,” said Naqibullah, a resident of Kandahar.

Mohammad Azimi, another Kandahar resident, called on the Taliban government to identify and arrest the perpetrators. “Who were these people? Why they were killed? And who were the perpetrators? The [Taliban] government must make it clear,” he complained.

Contrary to the Taliban’s claim of ensuring security all across the country and decrease in crime rate, Afghanistan has witnessed unprecedented hike in mysterious killings in many provinces.