In reaction to the Taliban attacks in Farah, Ghazni and Paktia provinces, where dozens of civilians and military personnel lost their lives and dozens more were wounded, the Afghanistan Independent Human Rights Commission (AIHRC) said on Wednesday these acts are counted as war crimes.
The CEO of the commission, Musa Mahmoudi, said they call on the group to respect the lives of civilians.
“This is a criminal act, a clear violation of human rights and it can be exemplified as war crimes,” he said.
This week’s attacks were the deadliest incidents since the announcement of the US’s new strategy on Afghanistan, according to the New National Front of Afghanistan.
“This is a response to the government against the optimism for the (US) strategy and it showed that they (militants) are still powerful. On the other hand, they (insurgents) will try to show that they will not enter the negotiations from a weak stance – if they might attend the talks table,” head of the party Anwar-ul-Haq Ahadi said.
The insurgents used military vehicles in the attacks on Paktia Police Headquarters and in Ghazni province – a move that have drawn sharp reaction from the public.
Government has been blasted for not searching out and destroying military vehicles which have been seized by militants on the battlefields.
Hinting at this, Defense Ministry spokesman Dawlat Waziri said: “The Kunduz province fell to the Taliban twice and they took the vehicles. As well as in Janikhail district (in Paktia) and in Ghazni province they (Taliban) took the (military) vehicles with them, but we are trying to eliminate them (the vehicles).”
Some legislators meanwhile accused the intelligence apparatus of government of being unable to prevent such incidents.
“Andar district will fall (to militants) if the central government and the Ghazni local government remain hesitant like this. The fall of Andar (district) will mean the fall of the Ghazni province,” said Amanullah Kamrani, a member of Ghazni Provincial Council.
“The reluctance of the intelligence and investigative bodies as well as problems in the local government in Paktia helped the incident to happen,” said Mohammada Jan Mangal, a senator.
A number of former military officials meanwhile called on government to identify those who might have helped the attackers from inside Paktia Police Headquarters.