United States, European Union and 20 other countries expressed their concern in a joint statement over the "summary killings" of former security personnel in Afghanistan. The countries include the United States, Australia, Belgium, Bulgaria, Canada, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Japan, the Netherlands, New Zealand, North Macedonia, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, the United Kingdom, and Ukraine.

On Saturday Human Rights Watch (HRW) published a report in which they alleged the killing and disappearances of ex-members of the Afghan security forces.

"We underline that the alleged actions constitute serious human rights abuses and contradict the Taliban’s announced amnesty," the statement said. "Reported cases must be investigated promptly and in a transparent manner, those responsible must be held accountable, and these steps must be clearly publicised as an immediate deterrent to further killings and disappearances," the statement added.

According to Tolonews, The countries have said they will continue to judge the Taliban by their actions. Responding to the HRW report and joint statement, the Taliban said the accusation of the killings of ex-security personnel is "untrue" and they are ready to cooperate with any kind of probe.

"We reject the claims about killings of the former administration security forces. There is no evidence to back it," Inamullah Samangani, deputy spokesman of the Taliban government, said. "People should speak responsibly on international platforms and cite evidence, not make claims based on rumor and propaganda," he added.

In late November, HRW in a report had said over 100 Afghan former security members in Kandahar, Helmand, Ghazni and Kunduz province of the country were killed or disappeared in less than three months since the Taliban takeover.

"The Taliban leadership’s promised amnesty has not stopped local commanders from summarily executing or disappearing former Afghan security force members," Patricia Gossman, associate Asia director of the Human Rights Watch said.

"The burden is on the Taliban to prevent further killings, hold those responsible to account, and compensate the victims’ families," Gossman added.

Rejecting the report, The Taliban, however, said if HRW has any evidence, it can share it with them.

Saeed Khosti, the spokesman of the Ministry of Interior said, "We reject this report, if they own documents proving the issue, they can share them with us so we can arrest and legally act against the criminals. The Islamic Emirate never chased or killed former security forces. Some former military forces may have lost lives as a result of personal hostility."

Meanwhile, the killing of  Tetsu Nakamura, a Japanese physician and an honorary Afghan citizen, remains resolved and the perpetrators are still roaming freely, TOLOnews reported. Nakamura, 73, had spent his lifetime helping Afghanistan and its people and Afghans affectionately called him "Kaka Murad".

He was killed in a targeted attack on December 4, 2019, in Jalalabad, the capital of Nangarhar province. Calling Nakamura a benevolent and decent human, the Taliban government has pledged to prosecute the criminals. According to Shah Mahmood Miakhail, ex-Nangarhar governor, Nakamura was killed by Pakistani nationals, TOLOnews said. (SAM)