The United States is deeply concerned by reports of a surge in summary executions in Afghanistan and pledges to re-engage with the government on these troubling developments, the Department of State announced Saturday.
The statement follows an audit of the Afghan Interior Ministry’s foreign forensic analysis center, which provided support to the international community to determine whether bodies identified by Afghan authorities as theirs could be related to the large-scale killing of civilians in an airstrike in Nangarhar Province that killed at least 2,400 people in 2017.
The audit suggested that the center received a larger number of suspicious bodies than had previously been suspected by international investigators, which would then provide additional incentive for the Afghan government to not send additional bodies for forensic analysis.
Following a review of these findings, the United States and other NATO allies and partners “profoundly” regret that Afghans’ lives have been unnecessarily disrupted by this incident, the Department of State said.
“We are deeply concerned by reports of a surge in summary executions by security forces across Afghanistan and by the repeated allegations of human rights violations against Afghan national security forces,” Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and Defense Secretary James Mattis said in a statement.
“The United States and our allies and partners have a grave commitment to the protection of Afghan civilians,” the statement continued. “For that reason, we remain committed to robustly assisting the Government of Afghanistan in building a better security situation for all of its citizens.”
US and other forces have been in Afghanistan for more than 15 years, providing vital support and stability to the Central Asian nation as well as expanding its security capabilities to some degree. However, the Trump administration has also signaled a need to find a way out of the war that began in October 2001.
Critics argue it has been winding down for some time. The government in Kabul will need to develop a plan for getting out, a Secretary of State spokesperson said last week.
This past week, Pakistani President Asif Ali Zardari stated that negotiations with the Afghan Taliban are essential, adding “I hope there will be positive news soon” regarding talks between the Taliban and the US.
“Negotiations are in favor of a peaceful and democratic future,” Zardari said.
Afghan President Ashraf Ghani also praised the meeting, calling it a “a very positive step forward.”
FOX News’ Noah Gray, Lucas Tomlinson and Catherine Herridge contributed to this report.