Probe Sought Into Afghan ‘Massacre’

A human rights group on Monday called for an inquiry into reports that as many as 300 Shiite Muslim civilians were recently massacred by Afghanistan’s ruling Taliban in the central province of Bamian.

Citing witnesses, New York-based Human Rights Watch said Taliban troops rounded up and shot about 300 men after capturing the city of Yakaolang in January. The Taliban rejected the report.

The United Nations said Jan. 19 that it had credible reports of the killings, but it put the death toll at about 100. Several victims were Afghans working for humanitarian groups, both the U.N. and the rights organization said.

Human Rights Watch said it had videotaped evidence of two mass graves in the area. It also released a list of the dead.

“After conducting search operations throughout the city and nearby villages, the Taliban detained about 300 civilian adult males, including staff members of humanitarian organizations,” the report said. “The men were herded to assembly points in the center of the district and several outlying areas, and then shot by firing squad in public view.”

The Taliban, which controls 95% of Afghanistan and consists mostly of Sunni Muslims, said the reports were a “conspiracy” by opposition groups and other countries to tarnish its name.