UN Says Taliban Behind At Least 72 Extrajudicial Killings In Afghanistan

Members of the Taliban stand at the site of the execution of three men in Ghazni province, Afghanistan, April 18, 2015. REUTERS/Stringer/File Photo
Members of the Taliban stand at the site of the execution of three men in Ghazni province, Afghanistan, April 18, 2015. REUTERS/Stringer/File Photo
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UN Says Taliban Behind At Least 72 Extrajudicial Killings In Afghanistan

Members of the Taliban stand at the site of the execution of three men in Ghazni province, Afghanistan, April 18, 2015. REUTERS/Stringer/File Photo
Members of the Taliban stand at the site of the execution of three men in Ghazni province, Afghanistan, April 18, 2015. REUTERS/Stringer/File Photo

The UN said Tuesday it had received credible allegations of over 100 extrajudicial killings in Afghanistan since the Taliban took power in August, with most carried out by the Taliban.

United Nations deputy rights chief Nada Al-Nashif said she was deeply alarmed by continuing reports of such killings, despite a general amnesty announced by the new Taliban rulers after August 15.

"Between August and November, we received credible allegations of more than 100 killings of former Afghan national security forces and others associated with the former government," she told the UN Human Rights Council.

"At least 72 of these killings," she said, were "attributed to the Taliban."

"In several cases, the bodies were publicly displayed. This has exacerbated fear among this sizeable category of the population," she said, AFP reported.

The comments, given during a scheduled update to council on the rights situation in Afghanistan, came after the United States and other countries harshly condemned the Taliban following a Human Rights Watch report earlier this month documenting 47 summary executions.

Those killings were of former members of the Afghan National Security Forces, other military personnel, police and intelligence agents "who had surrendered to or were apprehended by Taliban forces" from mid-August through October, it said.

The Taliban spokesman Qari Sayed Khosti flatly rejected the report and other claims about extrajudicial killings as "not based on evidences."

He said there were some cases of former members of the now-defunct Afghan National Defense and Security Forces who had been killed, but that was "because of personal rivalries and enmities."



German FM, in Call with Iranian Counterpart, Demands Hormuz Reopening

An IRGC boat participates in an operation to intercept vessels attempting to cross the Strait of Hormuz on April 23 (AFP)
An IRGC boat participates in an operation to intercept vessels attempting to cross the Strait of Hormuz on April 23 (AFP)
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German FM, in Call with Iranian Counterpart, Demands Hormuz Reopening

An IRGC boat participates in an operation to intercept vessels attempting to cross the Strait of Hormuz on April 23 (AFP)
An IRGC boat participates in an operation to intercept vessels attempting to cross the Strait of Hormuz on April 23 (AFP)

German Foreign Minister Johann Wadephul said he on Sunday demanded that Iran reopen the Strait of Hormuz and give up its nuclear weapons programme in a telephone call with Iranian counterpart Abbas Araghchi, AFP reported.

"I emphasized that Germany supports a negotiated solution," Wadephul said in a post on X about the call.

"As a close US ally, we share the same goal: Iran must completely and verifiably renounce nuclear weapons and immediately open the Strait of Hormuz, as also demanded by" US Secretary of State Marco Rubio.

 

 

 

 


Rubio to Visit Vatican, Rome after Trump Row

Secretary of State Marco Rubio, speaks during a Memorandum of Understanding signing ceremony with EU Commissioner for Trade and Economic Security Maros Sefcovic, at the State Department, Friday, April 24, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/Rod Lamkey, Jr.)
Secretary of State Marco Rubio, speaks during a Memorandum of Understanding signing ceremony with EU Commissioner for Trade and Economic Security Maros Sefcovic, at the State Department, Friday, April 24, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/Rod Lamkey, Jr.)
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Rubio to Visit Vatican, Rome after Trump Row

Secretary of State Marco Rubio, speaks during a Memorandum of Understanding signing ceremony with EU Commissioner for Trade and Economic Security Maros Sefcovic, at the State Department, Friday, April 24, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/Rod Lamkey, Jr.)
Secretary of State Marco Rubio, speaks during a Memorandum of Understanding signing ceremony with EU Commissioner for Trade and Economic Security Maros Sefcovic, at the State Department, Friday, April 24, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/Rod Lamkey, Jr.)

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio will visit Rome and the Vatican this week, an Italian government source said Sunday, weeks after President Donald Trump's stinging criticism of Pope Leo XIV.

Italian media reported that Rubio would meet the US pontiff himself on Thursday.

The government source told AFP that Rubio would meet Vatican Secretary of State Pietro Parolin and Italian Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani.

The meetings come just weeks after Trump's extraordinary criticism of Pope Leo over the Catholic leader's anti-war rhetoric.

The source said Rubio had asked for a meeting with Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, one of Trump's closest European allies, whom he turned on after she defended the pope.

Media reports said he was also due to meet Defense Minister Guido Crosetto, amid a deepening rift in transatlantic ties over the Middle East war.

Leo, 70, will on Friday mark one year as leader of the world's 1.4 billion Catholics, after being elected by cardinals on May 8, 2025, following the death of Pope Francis.

As the first ever pope from the United States, his words have arguably carried more weight in Washington than previous pontiffs -- and he has used them, criticising notably the Trump administration's crackdown on immigration.

But it was the pontiff's increasing anti-war rhetoric, particularly following the US-Israeli attacks on Iran, that triggered Trump's ire.

Leo declared Trump's threat to destroy Iran "unacceptable" and urged Americans to demand that US lawmakers "work for peace".

The US president slammed the pontiff in a social media post as "WEAK on Crime, and terrible for Foreign Policy".

Trump also said he was "not a big fan of Pope Leo" and that he does not "want a pope who thinks it's OK for Iran to have a nuclear weapon."

The pontiff responded by saying he had a "moral duty to speak out" against war -- and then sparked more headlines with a speech in Cameroon lambasting "tyrants" ransacking the world.

However, he insisted afterwards that the remarks were written long before the row, and said he had not intended to start a new debate with the US president.

Christians across the world expressed their solidarity with the pope, and Meloni condemned Trump's remarks as "unacceptable" -- prompting the president to turn his fire on her.

"I'm shocked at her. I thought she had courage, but I was wrong," the US president said in an interview with Italian daily Corriere della Sera.

He accused Meloni -- a far-right leader who has sought to act as a bridge between diverging US and European views -- of failing to help the United States with NATO.

Trump has threatened to pull US troops from Italy, saying Rome "has not been of any help to us" in the Iran war.

He has made a similar threat towards Spain, while the Pentagon has announced it will withdraw 5,000 US troops from Germany.

As of December 31, 2025, there were 12,662 active-duty US troops in Italy and 3,814 in Spain. In Germany, there were 36,436.


Israel Court Extends Detention of Gaza Flotilla Activists

Brazilian activist Thiago Avila gestures upon his arrival at a court in Ashkelon on May 3, 2026. Photo by Ilia YEFIMOVICH / AFP)
Brazilian activist Thiago Avila gestures upon his arrival at a court in Ashkelon on May 3, 2026. Photo by Ilia YEFIMOVICH / AFP)
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Israel Court Extends Detention of Gaza Flotilla Activists

Brazilian activist Thiago Avila gestures upon his arrival at a court in Ashkelon on May 3, 2026. Photo by Ilia YEFIMOVICH / AFP)
Brazilian activist Thiago Avila gestures upon his arrival at a court in Ashkelon on May 3, 2026. Photo by Ilia YEFIMOVICH / AFP)

An Israeli court has extended by two days the detention of two activists arrested aboard a Gaza-bound flotilla that was intercepted by Israeli forces in international waters near Greece, their lawyer said on Sunday.

Saif Abu Keshek, a Spanish national, and Brazilian Thiago Avila were detained by Israeli authorities late on Wednesday and brought to Israel, while more than 100 other pro-Palestinian activists aboard the boats were taken to the Greek island of Crete.

A court spokesperson confirmed that their remand had been extended until May 5.

The governments of Spain and Brazil issued a joint statement on Friday calling their detention illegal.

The activists were part of a second Global Sumud flotilla, launched in an attempt to break Israel’s blockade of Gaza by delivering humanitarian assistance. The ships had set sail from Barcelona on April 12.

Israeli authorities requested a four-day extension of their arrest on suspicion of offences that include assisting the enemy during wartime, contact with a foreign agent, membership in and providing services to a terrorist organisation, and the transfer of property for a terrorist organization, said rights group Adalah, which is assisting in the activists' defense.

Hadeel Abu Salih, the men's attorney, said that the two deny the allegations. Their arrest was unlawful due to a lack of jurisdiction, she told Reuters at the Ashkelon Magistrate's Court after the hearing, adding that the mission was meant to provide aid to civilians in Gaza, not to any militant group.

Abu Salih said that Abu Keshek and Avila were subjected to violence en route to Israel and kept handcuffed and blindfolded until Thursday morning.

The Israeli military did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Israel's foreign ministry had on Thursday called the flotilla organizers "professional provocateurs".

"Israel will not allow the breach of the lawful naval blockade on Gaza," it said.