At least nine people, from two families, were killed in a Taliban raid on a house in the center of Daikundi province on Thursday, Nov. 24, including three children.
The deceased were from two families from the Siwak Shibar village; the Hashim Khan family and the Mohammad Dad Jaffari family.
The village is located on the outskirts of the city of Nili.
Sources and relatives of the victims said a woman was also wounded in the raid, while three children, aged nine, 12 and 14, were among those killed.
According to them, six others were captured by the Taliban and that they have not been heard from since the incident.
Eight of the victims have been identified as:
Aminullah Mali, son of Mohammad Hakim Khan
Ibrahim Yaqubi son of Hashim Khan
Shir Ali Jaffari, son of Mohammad Dad Jaffari
Mohammad Jaffari, 9 years old, son of Shir Ali Jaffari
Amir Jaffari, son of Mohammad Dad Jaffari
Inayatullah Jaffari, 12, son of Amir Jaffari
Mohammad Alam Jaffari, son of Mohammad Dad Jaffari
Mahdi Jaffari, 14, son of Mohammad Alam Jaffari
Those arrested include:
Ihsan son of Hashim Khan
Rahman son of Hashim Khan
Bashir Haidari son of Haji Haidar
Mahmoud Haidari son of Haji Haidar
Yunis Tawakuli son of Mohammad Nazir
And Mohammad Rezaee
Why did the Taliban carry out the raid?
Some sources said the Taliban accused members of the families of having ties to the resistance front and asked them to surrender. However, when they failed to comply, the Taliban carried out the raid on the house.
Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid said in a statement on Saturday, Nov. 26, that at least nine “rebels” were killed in an attack that happened after the “rebels” refused to lay down their arms despite two requests to do so, even with the help of elders in the area.
Mujahid rejected claims that children were killed but confirmed that a woman had been wounded.
He added that one Taliban member was killed and two more were wounded in the incident.
UNICEF also said that four children were killed in the attack.
Footage from the incident sent to the media shows that children were among the victims.
Two residents of the area, who know the two families, said that the families had been embroiled in a land dispute with the sons of a person named Gharib Husain and in order to protect themselves, they had carried weapons. Residents claimed the families did not have any ties to the resistance front.
They added that Gharib Husain’s sons have ties with the Taliban and had reported to the group that the two families had links with the anti-Taliban movement, which then led to the Taliban carrying out a raid on the house.
