Local sources in Sar-e-Pul province told the Afghan Women News Agency that the Taliban had brutally killed elderly people, children and women in a battle with Mawlawi Mahdi, a disgruntled Hazara commander of the Taliban in the Balkhab district of the province. According to local sources, Taliban members slaughtered civilians after losing the battle against […]
Local sources in Sar-e-Pul province told the Afghan Women News Agency that the Taliban had brutally killed elderly people, children and women in a battle with Mawlawi Mahdi, a disgruntled Hazara commander of the Taliban in the Balkhab district of the province. According to local sources, Taliban members slaughtered civilians after losing the battle against Mawlawi Mahdi. With the Taliban invading Balkhab, large numbers of families fled their homes to other villages and mountains and plains, but those who remained in their homes were slaughtered and a number of others who had taken refuge in a mosque for fear of the Taliban were also shot.
Locals have so far documented the killings of nearly 60 people, including the elderly, youth, women and children, of whom 35 have been identified and buried so far. Another 22 bodies have been identified by locals, but the Taliban have not allowed them to be buried yet.
A large number of young people were tortured and then detained by the Taliban, whose sources did not reveal their identities due to security threats. There is a house-to-house search by the Taliban in Balkhab district, and the Taliban have not allowed the Red Cross and the UN envoy to travel to Balkhab.
The identities of the victims of this event are as follows.
List of Balkhab martyrs who have been identified and buried to date:
1- Sayed Hussain son of Sayed Abbas, 58 years old, shepherd from Qalagak village
2. Sayed Azim son of Sayed Noor, 82-year-old, laborer from Takhshar village
3. Sayed Ali Agha son of Sayed Mohammad Hossain 22-year-old, laborer from Takhshar village
4. Sayed Ali son of Sayed Reza, 21-year-old, laborer from Takhshar village
5. Khalifa Maqdam, son of Abdul Rahim, 63-year-old, an ironsmith civilian with white hair from the village of Chaila
6. Jabbar, son of Moghaddam, 32, an ironsmith from the village of Chaila
7. Hussain son of Ali Mohammad, 28, a farmer from the village of Eltarkak
8. Muslim son of Ali, 17, a laborer from the village of Eltarkak
9. Nader, 17-year-old son of Rahim, a shepherd from Chenarak village
10. Ibrahim son of Abdul Hussain, 34, a farmer from Chenarak village
11. Yaqub, son of Ismail, 22, a shepherd from Chenarak village
12. Mir son of Dewana, 35-year-old, a laborer from the village of Bazaar Kohna
13. Ahmad son of Khadem, 31, a farmer from Shir Qala village
14. Sayed Hamid Balkhi son of Sayed Ismaeil, 27, a student from the village of Parushan
15. Amanullah, 40, a laborer from Hoosh village
16. Ghulam Nabi, 45, a laborer from Hoosh village
17. Mohammad Amin, brother of Mawlawi Atta, 50, a laborer from Takhshar
18. Mohammad Ali, the husband of Mawlawi Atta’s sister, 35, a laborer from Takhshar
19. Bibi Nazuka, the wife of Haji Abdul Hussain, 75, from the village of Kushkak
20. Gholam Sakhi son of Gholam Nabi, 72-year-old, a laborer from Gulroz village
21. Jawad son of Juma Ali, 65, a laborer from the village of Gulourz
22. Majid son of Mohammad Ali, 28, laborer from Gulourz
23. Gholam Ali son of Ewaz, 23, from Gulourz
24. An unidentified martyr was buried in Khayal Siahgak on the 26th of June.
25. An unidentified martyr was buried in Khayal Siahgak on the 26th of June.
27. An unidentified martyr was buried in Khayal Siahgak on the 28th of June.
28. An unidentified martyr was buried in Khayal Siahgak on the 28th of June.
29. Nasrullah, a young leborer from Tarkhoj village
30. Mohammad Reza, a young leborer from Tarkhoj village
31. Sayed Mir Hossain, son of Sayed Reza, 21 years old, a stranger from Dahana village
32. Mrs. Soman, wife of Haji Mohammad Hussain (German), 80 years old, a resident of Hoosh village
33. Haji Haydari Hooshi’s father, 90 years old, an old man and a resident of Hoosh village
34. A little child without identity who was martyred together with Haji Haydari’s father.
these thirty-four bodies have been identified and buried by locals.
The martyrs whose bodies have been seen but have not been identified and buried yet are as follows:
1. The bodies of six martyrs were found in the village of Shir Qala, all of whom were civilians and laborers, but the Taliban did not allow to be buried.
2. The bodies of three martyrs have been seen in the village of Giro, all of whom were laborers. They have not been buried yet.
3. The bodies of 13 martyrs from laborers who had taken refuge in a mosque in the village of Chenarak for fear of the Taliban, and the Taliban shot and martyred them all.
In the villages of Hoosh, Parushan, Larkord, Toghai and Dahana, a number of unburied martyrs remain, including women and children. Locals have fled to the mountains, and the Taliban have not allowed the martyrs to be identified and buried yet. The martyrs who were buried yesterday and today were buried by the mediation of the elders and with the written permission of the Taliban governor, but they were not allowed to be honored, and they were buried with insults and humiliation.
The Taliban has refused to respond to the media about the Balkhab incident. Two days ago, a Taliban resident in Balkhab, Sar-e-Pul province, said in a video message broadcast on Taliban-controlled national television that a number of insurgents standing in front of the Taliban had been repressed and killed in Balkhab. No civilians were harmed. On the other hand, the Taliban did not allow private media to cover the event, nor did they allow UNAMA, the Red Cross and human rights reporters to travel. This statistic has been documented and submitted to the Afghan Women News Agency by local residents of Balkhab district.
Reported by: Latifa Sadat Mosavi
