Taliban, Daesh jointly massacred people in Shia Afghan village: UN

An investigation team of the United Nations has confirmed that the Taliban and Daesh terrorist groups jointly massacred dozens of people, mostly Shia Hazaras, in an attack that “may amount to a war crime” in a remote northern village in Afghanistan earlier this month.

An investigation team of the United Nations has confirmed that the Taliban and Daesh terrorist groups jointly massacred dozens of people, mostly Shia Hazaras, in an attack that “may amount to a war crime” in a remote northern village in Afghanistan earlier this month.

Investigators of the UN Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA) said in a fact-finding report published on Sunday that they had “verified allegations” of at least 36 deaths in the Shia-majority village of Mirza Olang in Sayad district of the northern province of Sar-e Pul.

“These killings, corroborated by multiple credible sources, constitute violations of international humanitarian law and may amount to war crimes,” UNAMA said in its report.

Fierce fighting began in the area on August 3, when militants, reportedly including foreign nationals, seized a checkpoint manned by local police. Two days later, they entered the village, and according to provincial officials, killed civilians in “a brutal, inhumane way.”

The militants set fire to several mosques, torched at least 30 houses, beheaded a number of villagers and shot dozens of others dead, officials said.