The Taliban, the United States, and the security forces of the former US-backed Afghan government, all are responsible for war crimes that happened in Afghanistan, Amnesty International said on Wednesday, asking the International Criminal Court (ICC) to probe all parties to the conflict. 

Civilians suffered huge losses in the months leading to the collapse of Kabul in August, the rights watchdog said in a report, titled "Repeated War Crimes and Relentless Bloodshed” which was released on Wednesday.  

“The months before the government’s collapse in Kabul were marked by repeated war crimes and relentless bloodshed committed by the Taliban, as well as deaths caused by Afghan and US forces,” Agnès Callamard, Amnesty International’s Secretary-General, was quoted as saying in the report.

The rights body also called on the International Criminal Court (ICC) to probe all the war crimes that happened in Afghanistan, including those committed by the US forces and Afghan security forces.

This came weeks after the ICC prosecutor for Afghanistan, Karim Khan, decided to exclude US troops from its war crime investigation in Afghanistan. When the Afghan government collapsed, he said, the investigation into the US troops’ crimes was being deprioritized. He further added that the court would investigate “the scale and nature of crimes within the jurisdiction of the court.” 

On Wednesday, Amnesty said, “The International Criminal Court must reverse its misguided decision to deprioritize investigations into US and Afghan military operations, and instead follow the evidence on all possible war crimes, no matter where it leads.”

Documenting the crimes committed in the month leading to the collapse of Kabul, the report noted, “Homes, hospitals, schools, and shops were turned into crime scenes as people were ... killed and injured. The people of Afghanistan have suffered for too long, and victims must have access to justice and receive reparations.” 

Reacting to the report, Taliban’s deputy spokesperson Bilal Karimi told TOLOnews, “The Islamic Emirate has committed no war crimes against civilians in Afghanistan. In the last 20 years, we fought for an inclusive government.”(SAM)