NGO Urges UN to Assess Crimes Against Humanity by Taliban in Afghanistan

MOSCOW (Sputnik) — A civil society group called on the UN Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA) and Afghanistan Independent Human Rights Commission (AIHRC) on Thursday to investigate accusations of crimes against humanity by Taliban militants in their capture of the city of Kunduz in northern Afghanistan, local media reported.

"The AIHRC and UNAMA should send all their findings to the international court if they find that crimes against humanity have been committed in Kunduz," Karima Karimi, a member of the Protection of Civilians Group, said as quoted by Afghanistan’s TOLOnews network.

On September 28, Taliban militants seized Kunduz, one of the largest cities in northern Afghanistan, knocking out government forces. The Afghan National Army, backed by US airstrikes, began an offensive operation to regain control of the city.

On October 3, US airstrikes on a Medecins Sans Frontiers (Doctors Without Borders, MSF) hospital in the Afghan city killed 22 people, including MFS staff and three children, and wounded dozens more. The agency labeled the attack a war crime, and said it would conduct an independent investigation into the incident.

Afghanistan remains in a state of political and social turmoil as the Taliban, al-Qaeda and Islamic State extremists take advantage of the country's instability.

The US-led NATO mission formally ended its operation in Afghanistan in December 2014 after a long presence in the country since 2001.