The office of the United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA) has raised concerns over what it described as attacks on certain ethnic groups in Afghanistan by militant groups. 
 
The groups who call themselves Daesh or associate themselves with the group are targeting ethnic and religious groups in Afghanistan, said UNAMA's Director of Human Rights in Afghanistan, Danielle Bell.
 
She said that the UN was strongly concerned about recent attacks by militants in Herat, Kabul and the recent massacre which took place in Mirza Olang Valley in northern Sar-e-Pul province. 
 
“UNAMA is extremely concerned about attacks deliberately targeting persons belonging to certain ethnic and religious communities, notably attacks carried out by groups and fighters associated or self-proclaimed as Daesh or ISKP; these groups have been linked to the recent hideous attacks in Sar-e-Pul, Kabul and Herat," said Bell.  
 
Meanwhile, the US state department in its annual report has written that attacks by the militants on the minority groups in Afghanistan was horrific.  
 
“As we make progress in defeating ISIS and denying them their caliphate, their terrorist members have continued to target multiple religions and ethnic groups for rape, kidnapping, enslavement and even death. To remove any ambiguity from previous statements or reports by state department, the crime of genocide requires three elements, specific acts with specific intent to destroy in whole or in part specific people,” said Tillerson. 
 
In addition to this, Afghanistan Independent Human Rights Commission (AIHRC) has also said that the militants are targeting particular ethnic groups and communities in Afghanistan. 
 
Talking on the massacre in Mirza Olang, AIHRC chairperson Sima Samar said that a special team of experts should be assigned to investigate the mass killing in the valley in order to identify whether it falls into the category of genocide or not. 
 
The US State Department report states that Daesh’s Khurasan branch and the Afghan Taliban have continued their attacks on religious minorities because of their link to government.
 
“... I'm not going to comment on any statements put out by the Taliban on that. Let's not lose focus here, that the - what I'll - I'll say this about another country: destabilizing activities. What is going on in Afghanistan is a result of the Taliban. We've seen, and there was a report out not that long ago, about the increase in attacks on civilians, which largely included women and children. That is being perpetrated by members of the Taliban. Let's not lose focus that the Taliban is behind many of those attacks, many of the increase in civilian casualties. That undermines the Afghan population and also the Afghan government,” said US State Department spokesperson Heather Nauert. 
 
In the report it has been noted that Afghanistan’s non-Muslim minorities such the Sikhs, Hindus and Christians have also complained about discrimination and mistreatment in society.