KABUL, AFGHANISTAN – The United Nations reported that at least 28 civilians were killed and 50 injured in attacks by ISIS-K, a regional affiliate of the Islamic State, in Afghanistan between July and September 2024.
In its quarterly report released on October 31, the UN mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA) stated that during the reporting period, ISIS-K claimed responsibility for four attacks, including two targeted assaults on Hazaras.
The UN agency detailed that ISIS-K claimed responsibility for two attacks in August targeting Hazaras in western Kabul and Taliban members in Nangarhar province. In both attacks, seven civilians, including children, were killed, and 17 others were injured.
According to the report, another attack occurred on September 2 in Kabul, outside the Taliban High Directorate of Supervision and Prosecution of Decrees and Orders, killing seven civilians and injuring more than 29 others.
The deadliest attack, according to the UN, occurred on September 12, when ISIS-K militants hijacked a vehicle on the border between Ghor and Daikundi provinces, killing 14 passengers and wounding four others, all of whom were Hazaras.
Despite the Taliban’s attempts to downplay the impact of ISIS-K and its attacks, the terror group continues to expand its operations, targeting religious minorities, particularly Hazara Shias, as well as Taliban members.
Following the withdrawal of US and NATO troops and the Taliban’s return to power in 2021, ISIS-K has emerged as the most capable branch of the ISIS terror organization, with the capacity to carry out deadly attacks beyond Afghanistan’s borders, such as those in Iran and Russia earlier this year.
Over the past three years, many countries in the region and around the world have expressed concern about the growing capabilities of not only ISIS-K but also many other terrorist groups in Afghanistan. They have urged the Taliban to take action to prevent Afghanistan from once again becoming a safe haven for these groups.
The UN report also highlighted a series of cross-border incidents between the Taliban and Pakistani military forces in western Afghanistan, in which six civilians, including women and children, were killed and ten others were injured.
In its report, UNAMA also documented at least 24 instances of arbitrary arrest and detention, 10 cases of torture and ill-treatment, and five instances of killings of members of the former Afghan National Defense and Security Forces (ANDSF) by the Taliban in the past three months.
Regarding the Taliban’s use of corporal punishment, the UN agency reports that it continues to be carried out regularly, with at least 111 individuals, including 15 women and one girl, publicly flogged on multiple charges in the last three months across Afghanistan.
“On July 2, in Tirin Kot, the capital city of Uruzgan province, Taliban authorities flogged 18 individuals on charges of theft, sodomy, and adultery at a sports stadium, in the presence of thousands of local residents, religious scholars, and Taliban officials,” UNAMA said.
