SUMMARY
The Government of Afghanistan has mainly been active as a one-sided actor under the Taleban administration, which ruled between September 1996 and late 2001, as well as after August 2021. One-sided activity during this period mainly occurred in the context of the Taleban’s attempts to consolidate its control over the country; more specifically with regards to the pockets of resistance that were put up by the Hazara, Uzbek and Tajik ethnic groups in northern and north-eastern Afghanistan.
The Taleban government consisted primarily of people from the Pashto group, the southern-based and numerically dominant ethnic group in Afghanistan. Support from the other constituent ethnic groups of Afghanistan who were all linked to other militant outfits was thus not considered reliable, perhaps especially since the northern parts of Afghanistan were less zealous in their interpretations of Islam. It is also important to note that ethnic divides had characterised the entire Mujahideen era, with rebel movements to some extent being created along ethnic lines.
Between 1997 and 2001 fighting raged between the Taleban government and UIFSA (United Islamic Front for the Salvation of Afghanistan, also known as the Northern Alliance), primarily in northern and central Afghanistan. When capturing cities and villages previously held by UIFSA, or predominantly inhabited by Hazaras, Uzbeks, and Tajiks, the Taleban used harsh measures to deter the population from once again rebelling against the government. Large-scale massacres took place, targeting the ethnic groups who were deemed to be loyal to UIFSA. The Hazaras were especially targeted, due to them being Shiite and thus ‘opposed’ to the Taleban’s rigorous Sunni ideology. The anti-Shia stand of the government was clearly expressed, with the Taleban issuing a statement that all Shiites should convert to Sunni Islam or be ready to face extinction. The killings also carried with them an element of revenge, since the northern ethnic groups had incurred devastating losses on the Taleban government’s fighters and supporters in the first rounds of fighting in 1996-1998.
The sites of the government’s one-sided violence during this time were located in the north and centre of Afghanistan, mainly in the Balkh, Faryab, Sar-i-Pul, Bamyan, Baghlan and Jawsjan provinces. Massacres of civilians in these areas decreased as the Taleban government increasingly took control of more and more territory throughout the years.
After the first Taleban regime came to an end in 2001, the Government of Afghanistan was not recorded as active in one-sided violence until 2019, when shootings against protesters and killings of civilians during night raids again caused at least 25 civilian deaths.
Following the Taleban takeover in August 2021, the second Taleban regime continued to target civilians. Human rights organizations have documented widespread violations, despite a general ammnesty for former government officials and members of the security forces being declared by the Taleban government. The Taleban regime continued to target civilians connected to the previous government, as well as civilians accused of supporting the resistance. In connection to offensives against the anti-Taleban resistance, the Taleban regime repeatedly executed civilians.
The Government of Afghanistan first became active as a one-sided actor in UCDP data in 1993, when the one-sided violence resulted in at least 25 civilian deaths. The threshold was reached in February of that year when the government attacked civilians all throughout Kabul city.
