He: The Taliban have killed, massacred, tortured some Shiite

In a report published on August 19th, Amnesty International said nine Hazara men were killed between July 4th and 6th in the Malastan district of the eastern province of Ghazni.

London-based human rights organisation quoted villagers who have said that following the intensifying of fighting between government forces and Taliban, they were forced to flee to the mountains.

Then, when some of them returned to the village of Mundakht to provide food, they said the Taliban had robbed their homes and were waiting for their return.

Several men who passed through Mundakht on their way home to a nearby village were also ambushed.

A total of six men were reportedly shot, some in the head and three were tortured to death, including “a man who was killed with his scarf”.

Amnesty International said her researchers had examined photographic evidence after the murders.

Amnesty International Secretary General Agnes Callamard said that the cold-blooded “brutality of these murders brings to memory past Taliban actions, and it is a terrible indication of what Taliban rule can bring to Afghanistan”.

The Hazara community is Afghanistan's third largest ethnic group.

Ethnic hazars mainly practice Shiite Islam and have faced discrimination and long-term persecution in Afghanistan mainly Sunni.

Thousands of people have been trying to leave Afghanistan since hardline Islamic militants took over the capital Kabul on 15 August, causing the Western-backed Government to fall./ REL