From Yakawlang where around 300 were massacred by Taliban in Jan 2001

These photos are caught from a video film by a local camera man
which was later released by Human Rights Watch

Click on each photo to view larger one. View the captions here on mouse over (IE only)


Click on the image to view RAWA photos from Yakowlang


Yakawlang a district in Bamiyan province of Hazarajat (Central Afghanistan) is the home of 60,000 people. Like other parts of Afghanistan, the people of Yakawlang have been victimized by fundamentalist groups even before the fall of the puppet regime in 1992. The stooges of Iranian regime in Hezb-e-Wahdat committed heinous crimes against these ill-fated people and rampaged their all belongings. In past many years these people were under the siege of Taliban and many people, mostly children, died of starvation.

In December 2000, the forces of the Northern Alliance captured this district which was subsequently recaptured by the Taliban militia in the first week of January.

UN, Amnesty International and especially Human Rights Watch confirmed that about 300 civilians, all men, including members of humanitarian groups, were rounded up and shot to death in various public areas by Taliban.

Taliban committed two massacres -- last May, and Jan. 8-11 in the central highlands of the country. The majority of victims in both attacks were members of the Hazaras, a Shiite Muslim sect.

"The bodies were lying on the ground face-down. All of their hands were bound behind their backs....The bullet wounds could not be made out on the backs, but there was blood on the ground beneath (their) chests....They were tied together in groups of three using their turbans, and scarves that had been wound together to make ropes. They were tied together, one to the other, using their own turbans" the witness reportedly said.

To find out more follow these links:

[Eyewitness accounts of Taliban massacre in Yakaolang]
[UN accuses Taliban of massacre] [Taliban destroy town that was rebel stronghold]
[RAWA report about massacre in Yakaolang] [AI Report about Massacre in Yakaolang]
["Civilians being deliberately attacked and killed", UN ]
[Rights group accuses Taliban of mass killings] [UN accuses Taliban of massacre]




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