UN says Taliban captives in Afghanistan subjected to abuse

The UN says Taliban captives in Afghanistan have been subjected to abuse, ill-treatment and actions that may amount to torture.

The UN Assistance Mission in Afghanistan says it interviewed 13 detainees from a group of 53 recently rescued from the Taliban. They were mainly members of the Afghan forces but also civilians and government officials captured by the Taliban.

The group was freed on April 25 when Afghan troops raided a Taliban-run detention facility in the Khas Uruzgan district in southern Uruzgan province.

The UNAMA statement, released on Sunday, says most of the captives were held since 2018, with three since 2016. It says they were kept in poor conditions and subjected to forced labor. The statement cites the detainees as saying that the Taliban killed some of their captives.