With the US troop's withdrawal from Afghanistan less than a month away, the Taliban has unleashed large-scale violence, creating political uncertainty in different parts of the country.
Taliban brutally killed civilians and the previous provincial government officials who had no combat role in the Spin Boldak district of Kandahar province, Khaama Press reported.
The group also brutally massacred civilians and security personal in the Malistan district in Ghazni province.
The UK and US have embassies described the Taliban's aggression as entirely unacceptable and a blatant civilian massacre, constituting war crimes. Earlier this month, the US said that any attack on a civilian humanitarian facility protected by international law should be investigated as a possible war crime.
More recently on Sunday, the United States condemned the Taliban's violent offensive against Afghan cities and called on the terrorist group to agree to a permanent ceasefire.
While condemning the violence, US Embassy in Afghanistan, in a statement, said, "the unlawful seizure of Zaranj, the capital of Afghanistan's Nimroz province, the attack on Sheberghan, capital of Jowzjan province yesterday and today, and continuing efforts to take over Lashkar Gah in Helmand and provincial capitals elsewhere."
The embassy statement said that these Taliban actions to forcibly impose its rule are unacceptable and contradict its claim to support a negotiated settlement in the Doha peace process. "They demonstrate a wanton disregard for the welfare and rights of civilians and will worsen this country's humanitarian crisis."
With the war in Afghanistan now in "a new, deadlier, and more destructive phase", the top UN official in the country appealed on Friday for the Security Council to act to avert a catastrophe.
Special Representative Deborah Lyons, head of the UN Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA), said the advance of the Taliban in recent months, now targeting major cities, is reminiscent of the Syrian and Balkan wars.
"Afghanistan is now at a dangerous turning point," she said. "Ahead lies either a genuine peace negotiation or a tragically intertwined set of crises: an increasingly brutal conflict combined with an acute humanitarian situation and multiplying human rights abuses."
( With inputs from ANI )
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