Taliban Burns Homes, Displaces Residents For Cooperating With Kabul - Rights Group

WASHINGTON (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 08th July, 2021) The Taliban (banned in Russia) have forcibly displaced residents and burned homes in northern Afghanistan in retaliation against government supporters, Human Rights Watch (HRW) said on Wednesday.

"Residents of Bagh-e Sherkat in Kunduz province said that from June 21 to June 25, Taliban forces ordered residents to evacuate and threatened those they said had provided past support to the Afghan government. Taliban fighters looted and burned down homes," HRW said in a press release.

The offensive coincides with the withdrawal of US forces after two decades of fighting following the September 11 terrorist attacks.

Taliban forces entered Bagh-e Sherkat and, with loudspeakers, ordered residents to vacate their homes in two hours. About 400 families fled the town, some going to Taloqan, 70 kilometers east, and about 200 fled to Faizabad, Badakhshan province, 230 kilometers east, the release said.

HRW said it obtained the information from telephone interviews with former residents of Bagh-e Sherkat in early July.