UN document claims Taliban threatened staff, assaulted them: report

Ground Report: UN document; After capturing Afghanistan Taliban is trying to present a different picture of himself. In two press conferences, the Taliban has said that it has 'forgiven' everyone and that the organization will take care of everyone's safety.

However, the news coming from Afghanistan every day is telling the opposite situation. Now in a document of the United Nations (UN), the matter of assault with its employees has also come to the fore. The news agency Reuters has seen an internal security document of the UN, which mentions several incidents of Taliban beating and harassing UN employees.

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According to Reuters, on August 22, the Taliban blocked an Afghan UN member from reaching Kabul airport. The UN member's vehicle was searched and the member was beaten up after getting the UN identity card. At the same time, on 23 August, three unidentified people reached the house of another UN staff member. They asked the UN member's son about him and said in a threatening manner, "We know his location and what he does."

UN document claims Taliban threatened staff

The UN's internal security document mentions many such incidents, which Reuters has described as 'hidden threats'. Since August 10, there have been incidents of robbery and assault with staff members in UN offices. The Taliban has assured Afghan and Western countries on several occasions that it will protect the rights of the people, but there are frequent reports of abuse of UN members and women.

The Taliban said it would investigate reports of abuse and urged aid organizations to continue their work. At the same time, the Taliban said that aid from abroad is welcome but it should not be used for political influence in Afghanistan.

UN spokeswoman Stephanie Dujarric said, "The authorities in Kabul have a responsibility to protect UN premises and staff. We are in contact with them in this regard." The United Nations has shifted 300 of its foreign staff in Afghanistan to Kazakhstan. There is still 3000 Afghan UN staff in the country.

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UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Michelle Bachelet said the Taliban capture raised serious fears of a return to the previous pattern of human rights violations and caused frustration among many Afghans.

He said that in recent weeks, his office has received rigorous and credible reports of human rights violations and human rights abuses by the parties to the conflict, along with the impact on citizens of violations of international humanitarian law.

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