Women among Hazara passengers singled out and executed in Ghor Afghanistan

Last updated: Aug 8, 2014 |

Ghor, Afghanistan – July 25, 2014

NOTE: We will keep on updating information on this page as new details becomes available to us.

At least 14 Hazaras (11 men, 3 women) passengers were singled out and executed by Taliban in Ghor province in Afghanistan. Four others survived the ordeal with gunshot wounds.

[ click for larger map ]

Telegraph UK reports 18 passengers on two minibuses travelling from Ghor to Kabul late Thursday night when they were stopped by 10 masked gunmen in army uniform. Many of them were traveling to celebrate the Eid festival which marks the end of the Islamic holy month of Ramadan.

According to Telegraph UK, Gul Agha was one of four survivors – two of whom suffered bullet wounds to their chests and arms – who fell down with their fellow passengers and played dead while the killers checked the bodies for signs of life.

When they took us out of the cars, they body checked us and took all our belongings and money. Then they divided us in two groups and and one of them shouted ’fire,’ he told the Telegraph in a telephone interview.

I played dead, because people were standing very close to each other in the group, I fell near other people who were dead. I was laying beside the dead bodies until the light of the morning, my clothes are colored with blood of other people, he said.

In his statement to the police, he said he had to remain still and silent for several hours because the gunmen loitered at the scene after the killings and left shortly before the police arrived.

Washington Post:

Four members of the same family — including a newly engaged couple and two of their relatives — were killed in the attack. The assailants bound some of the victims’ hands and blindfolded others before they were shot, security officials told Afghanistan’s TOLO News agency.

Ghowr (Ghor) is an isolated and mountainous region wedged between the Hazara-majority Bamian province in the east and Herat, near the Iranian border, in the west. Ethnic Hazaras, the majority of whom are Shiite Muslims, make up a sizable portion of Ghowr’s population of roughly 580,000, according to Afghan government statistics.

UPDATES:

Victims (partial)

Muhammad Akbar (leaves behind, elderly parents, wife, and 5 children)
Nowroz
Latifa (newly wed on honeymoon trip to Bande-e Amir in Bamyan;
wife of victim, Nowroz) – 5 members of same family killed
two cousins of Latifa
To be determined (TBD)

Hazara families of Ghor victims search for answers – July 27

Sakina – 7 year old, daughter of victim, Mohammad Akbar
Muhammad Akbar, one of the men martyred on Friday, left behind a wife, five children and two elderly parents. Nek Bakht, his wife, said that her husband was not in the government or associated with any political group; he was simply a labor worker who worked from day to night to support his kids. “What can I say now, why did the Taliban kill them?” she asked.

“I want my dad, now I want the government to kill the killers of my father,” said Sakina, Muhammad Akbar’s seven year old daughter.

Muhammad Ibrahim lost his daughter, son-in-law, sister and two nephews

He told TOLOnews his daughter, Latifa, and her husband, Nawruz, were planning to spend the first days of their marriage at Band-Amir Lake in Bamyan province.

“It was 5:30 in the morning when I found out that the Taliban killed passengers from three vehicles in Lal and Sarjangal districts,” Muhammad Ibrahim said. “When I went to the hospital, I saw the bodies of five family members – how would you feel to see the bodies of five of your own family members at once?”

Who is behind Hazara massacre in Ghor?

The United States, Afghan President Hamid Karzai, Pakistan, Qatar, Saudi, are some of the countries that have been pushing for release of Taliban mass killers calling it a ‘peace gesture’ towards Taliban. Pakistan, Saudi, and UAE, were the three official supporters of Taliban terrorists prior to 911.

Afghan President Karzai released 72 Taliban prisoners on Jan 10, 2014, and 65 Taliban prisoners on Feb 13, 2014. Karzai and Taliban are both from Pashtun community.

Pakistan released founding member of Taliban, Mullah Ghani Baradar, in Sept, 2013; approved release of 16 Taliban in a peace deal with Tehreek Taliban Pakistan (TTP), and high valued Ibrahim Sadar (replaced Mullah Abdul Qaum Zakir as Taliban’s top military commander).

In June, 2014, US swapped five most wanted Taliban prisoners from Guantanamo Bay with one of its soldier. Two of the Gitmo5 Taliban directly supervised between 2000 and 15000 Hazara killings in city of Mazar-e Sharif, Afghanistan in August, 1998. Gitmo5 Taliban were released in custody of Qatar – which like Saudi – is a major financier of global ‘Jihad.’

Governor Ghor accuses Pakistan behind Hazara killings (see under ‘Condemnations’)

President Karzai’s Pro-Taliban Policy Criticized:

Courtesy: ToloNews

ToloNews – July 28

Afghan President Hamid Karzai recently ordered that security agencies should avoid using heavy weaponry against the Taliban.

The president’s policy will have two dangerous outcomes,” head of the Civil Society Union, Azizullah Rafiyee, said. “Firstly, it will discourage the security forces from defending the country and secondly, it will increase the rates of violence in the country.

“President Karzai wants to win the hearts of the Taliban with such policies now that his term is coming to an end,” another Kabul resident, Rahimdad, said.

ToloNews – July 26

President Hamid Karzai himself has been a major proponent of releasing suspected militants from custody, especially those who were arrested with the help of NATO forces. This policy has further aggravated tensions between him and the Western countries that support the Afghan government, and caused major backlash among top Afghan leaders as well.

Articles:

“Sorry Latifa, You are a Hazara” by Mohammad Younas

courtesy: HazaraPeople.com

Condemnations:

Syed Ahmad Rahmati – Governor Ghor Province – Aug 4

The governor of Ghor province, Syed Anwar Rahmati, accused Pakistan of being involved in the massacre of 15 people who were taken off buses and killed in the province on July 25 (Pajhwok). According to Rahmati, a Taliban commander named Qari Rahmatullah was behind the attack and had spent the past winter in Pakistan. Afghan President Hamid Karzai has appointed a delegation to investigate the killings.

U.S. Embassy condemns killings of civilians in Ghor – July 27

US releases following statement with absolutely no mention of word Hazara:

We condemn, in the strongest terms, the mass killing of civilians in Ghor province on Friday. The attackers targeted civilians who were traveling to and from Kabul, including women, children, and a newlywed couple. We extend our condolences to the families of the victims.

The U.S. Embassy joins the voices of Afghan civil society in calling on the Afghan government to investigate and hold accountable all individuals involved in the brutal shooting.

Hazara Democratic Party (HDP) Condemnation – July 27

Killing of Hazaras in Ghor is a continuation of Ethnic Cleansing of Hazaras in Afghanistan

Police Chief General Fahim Qayem

Those who have killed our sisters, our brothers and our people, they were released from the Ghor prison, and now they are doing these acts, killing our people

Muhammad Nader Ehsani – religious scholar (participant in demonstration against Ghor killings):

Every dead body had over 100, 70 or sixty bullets, they were torn to pieces. Are they killing in the name of religion, Taliban, or Quran? Down with them

Protests:

BBC: Protest in Kabul [ pic gallery ] – July 27