The G7 group has called for unimpeded access for aid workers to Ethiopia's northern Tigray region, where the UN says some 350,000 people are living in famine conditions. The world's seven largest so-called advanced economies also demanded an immediate ceasefire and the withdrawal of Eritrean troops. The Eritreans are fighting alongside government forces against local rebels. Ethiopia denies there is a famine and says the Eritreans have begun to leave. Meeting in the UK, the G7 group, which includes the US, EU and UK, also said they would donate a billion Covid-19 vaccines to poorer countries by next year and raise $100bn (£70bn) to help them cut carbon emissions. Hundreds of people travelled to Falmouth, near to where the G7 summit is being held, to protest about the situation in Tigray. The war, which broke out in Ethiopia last November, has killed thousands of people and forced some 1.7 million from their homes. "We are deeply concerned by the ongoing conflict... and reports of an unfolding major humanitarian tragedy, including potentially hundreds of thousands in famine conditions," said a statement issued after the G7 summit. Ethiopian and Eritrean forces have been accused of deliberately blocking aid supplies to Tigray - a charge Ethiopia denies, saying it is distributing assistance as it restores order to the region. Aid workers report that some of the supplies which do get through are stolen. Last week, some Tigray residents described their situation to the BBC Tigrinya service. "We are civilians, our crops and cattle have been taken by armed men," one farmer in his 60s said. "They took from me around 30 cows and oxen - there are some who lost 100-200... cattle." Another farmer in his 40s told the BBC: "We were eating small remains of crops that we managed to hide, but now we don't have anything. "Nobody has given us any aid. Almost everyone is on the verge of death - our eyes are affected by the hunger, the situation is perilous. According to the Tigray Humanitarian Atlas published by researchers at Belgium's University of Ghent, out of Tigray's six million people: Just one-third live in areas controlled by the Ethiopian government Another third are in areas occupied by the Eritrean army, which experts say does not cooperate with humanitarian agencies A further 1.5 million live in rural areas controlled by the Tigrayan rebels, where aid workers cannot go and mobile-phone coverage has been shut off. A UN-backed study released on Thursday found that 353,000 people in the region were living in conditions similar to a famine, however a famine was not officially declared. A further two million people were living in the next level down, described as "emergency" conditions. © BBC News, 2021

Roger Cohen and Adam Rasgon | The New York Times Naftali Bennett, heckled and insulted, replaced Benjamin Netanyahu as prime minister by the narrowest of margins. Heckling and mayhem in the Knesset, an intimate parliamentary chamber transformed by anger, marked the end of Benjamin Netanyahu’s divisive 12-year rule over Israel and the start of Naftali Bennett’s term as prime minister. Mr. Bennett, a hard-right politician whose decision to join an eight-party coalition including left-wing parties has enraged Mr. Netanyahu’s center-right Likud party, struggled for 43 minutes to make himself heard as his opponents hurled abuse and held up posters saying, “Shame on you.” Mr. Netanyahu gave a 35-minute speech full of venom, contempt for Mr. Bennett and dire warnings about Israel’s security without him. “Try to damage as little as possible of the magnificent economy we are handing over to you, so that we can fix it as fast as possible when we return,” he said in a typically unapologetic speech that oozed scorn and confidence that he would soon be back. A measure of calm returned only after several hours as voting began in the 120-member Israeli Parliament. The sound of “Ba’ad,” meaning “in favor,” and “Neged,” meaning “against,” alternated. The vote yielded a razor-thin 60-to-59 victory for the new coalition, with one abstention from a member of the Islamist party Raam, which is joining the government. Mr. Netanyahu, wearing a black mask, was impassive, even when members of Israel’s new government congregated around its centrist architect, Yair Lapid, and embraced. An era had ended, just. Earlier, proceedings had slowed to a crawl as yelling filled the chamber. At least seven members of Parliament were escorted out. They accused Mr. Bennett of being unfit to lead Israel because his party, Yamina, has only a handful of seats; told him he was “selling” the Negev desert because he has agreed to accommodate some demands made by Arab lawmakers about Bedouin villages; and assailed him as a “liar” and traitor to his right-wing voters. In the blue-carpeted, wood-paneled chamber, the departing speaker had to call several times for order, to little avail. The turmoil was an apt portrait of a country bitterly divided after four elections since 2019. “We stopped the train a step before the abyss,” Mr. Bennett said, explaining that the “turmoil of elections and hatred” had to end. Such was the tumult that Mr. Lapid skipped his planned speech. He asked for forgiveness of his 86-year-old mother, whom he had brought to Parliament to watch because he “wanted her to be proud of the democratic process in Israel.” He added, “Instead, she, along with every citizen of Israel, is ashamed of you.” The pandemonium eased somewhat when Mr. Netanyahu took the podium, a confident, even haughty figure. Some sense of the awe in which much of Israel has held him was palpable. The chamber was initially quiet as he launched into his speech, which was unusually dismissive toward the United States on the subject of Iran and its nuclear program. The Biden administration is reviewing a possible return to the Iran nuclear deal, which the Trump administration scrapped. “The new United States administration asked me to keep our disagreements in nuclear matters private, not to publicize this,” Mr. Netanyahu said. “I said I would not do this, and I will tell you why: Because the lessons of history stand before our eyes.” He cited the United States’ refusal to bomb railroad tracks leading to Nazi extermination camps in World War II or to bomb gas chambers there, “something which could have saved millions of our people.” “We had no state, we had no army” at the time, he said. “But today we have a voice, we have a voice, and we have a defending force.” That was why, Mr. Netanyahu continued, he had told the U.S. defense secretary, Lloyd J. Austin III, during his visit in April that he would do “everything to prevent an agreement that will bring about a nuclear Iran.” Mr. Netanyahu said he also told Mr. Austin that “if I have to choose between friction between us and the removal of the existential threat to Israel, removal of the threat will prevail.” Such defiance of the United States will be impossible for the new government, Mr. Netanyahu claimed. “To my regret, Mr. Bennett does not have the international standing, he does not have the credibility, or ability, or knowledge, and above all he does not have a government that would make real resistance possible,” he said. The tirade typified Mr. Netanyahu’s conviction that Israel cannot maintain its security without him. Earlier, Mr. Bennett had said he would never allow a nuclear Iran and would oppose the nuclear deal, but Mr. Netanyahu dismissed him as a man at the head of a “fake right” who could never be trusted. His tone was too much for some members. “Bribery! Breach of Trust! Fraud!” yelled Nitzan Horowitz, the chairman of the left-wing Meretz Party, a member of the coalition. “You are a corrupted man.” Mr. Horowitz was referring to the charges on which Mr. Netanyahu has been indicted in a trial that is underway. Mr. Netanyahu, whose clinging to power has looked to many Israelis like an increasingly desperate attempt to leverage political office into a defense against the justice process, made almost no reference to his legal predicament. When Mr. Netanyahu tried to vaunt his spending on the Arab community in Israel, which accounts for about one-fifth of the population, Ayman Odeh, the leader of the Joint List alliance of three Arab-majority parties, was driven to fury. “The nation-state law, the Kaminitz Law, and endless incitement!” he shouted — a reference to a series of measures in the past several years that have left Palestinian citizens of Israel feeling marginalized, delegitimized and second-class. Mr. Netanyahu had no response, a few weeks after mob violence erupted between Jews and Arabs in several Israeli cities. In the chamber’s corridors, lined with portraits of members of former governments and Parliaments, there was a constant buzz of excitement reflecting a sense of a historic moment. Ram Ben Barak, a member of Mr. Lapid’s party and a former deputy head of Mossad, Israel’s spy agency, said he was moved in the same way in 1977, when Likud first won power under Menachem Begin, after three decades of left-wing government. “Democracies need change, and we need healing,” he said. “We have to begin with what we agree on,” said Penina Tamanu-Shata, the first Ethiopian-born minister in Israel and a member of the centrist Blue and White party. “We will deal with the 70 percent that we agree on and not the other 30 percent.” Mossi Raz, a Meretz lawmaker, noted that it was the first time in about 21 years that his party had entered the government. For him, as an opponent of the Israeli occupation of the West Bank, which Mr. Bennett firmly supports, it was a painful compromise. “I’m happy, but I will tell you the truth,” he said. “I have a lot of hesitations and questions. The government isn’t what I wished for.” Still, he said, compromise was necessary for Israel’s future. When asked how long the new government would last, he had no hesitation. “I will surprise you with my answer: four years,” he said. © Roger Cohen and Adam Rasgon for the New York Times, 2021

Nigeria, despite boasting Africa’s largest economy, is “falling apart,” warns that nation’s Catholic bishops. One of several hundred schoolboys freed after being seized in a mass abduction prays during a meeting with Nigeria's president Katsina, Nigeria, on Dec. 18, 2020. (Kola Sulaimon /AFP via Getty Images) Pointing to the mayhem let loose by various Islamic terrorist groups and criminals, they describe government authorities that are “either unable—or worse still, unwilling—to take up the responsibilities of their office.” Citing the bishops, Council on Foreign Relations’ Nigeria expert Ambassador John Campbell agrees, aptly summarizing the crisis in the headline of his May 31 analysis, “The Giant of Africa is Failing.” A chaotic, bloody disintegration of Africa’s most populous nation would be catastrophic for the region and beyond, witnesses emphasized at a June 9 hearing of the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom. Former Congressman Frank Wolf, the original sponsor of the International Religious Freedom Act (IRFA), was among the USCIRF witnesses. Having visited the country and learned of the ongoing atrocities, he emphasized that there are warning signs of genocide against Nigerian Christian communities and others, which must be taken seriously. He urged the Biden administration to appoint a special envoy for an inter-agency, regional, and international response to this crisis, and a special investigator to give trusted input on the mass atrocities, especially needed in the Middle Belt, a region that stretches across central Nigeria. The scale of human suffering in Nigeria is already horrific. In fact, last December, the U.S. State Department designated Nigeria, along with China, North Korea, and a shortlist of other of the world’s worst religious persecutors, as a “Country of Particular Concern (CPC),” under IRFA. Inexplicably, the department stopped short of adopting specific policies and sanctions with its determination, invoking a legal waiver for Nigeria instead. Beyond giving generous amounts of humanitarian aid to Nigeria’s burgeoning numbers of refugees and displaced, the United States has no serious policy to address this looming man-made disaster. It seems to even misunderstand the religious problem. The State Department’s report largely reduces the violence to a climate change-driven clash over resources between two rural economic classes—farmers and herders. It does not state the grounds for its CPC determination. U.S. Ambassador to Nigeria, Mary Beth Leonard, asserted to a visiting delegation of American Jewish and Christian leaders that the conflict is “fundamentally a resource issue,” and not about religion—an assertion, they found “alarming.” Even a cursory review of attacks shows victims can be targeted for a crime not solely for financial gain, but also for the jihadist intent of forcibly converting, punishing, or eradicating them. USCIRF, an independent, bipartisan U.S. federal government commission, concluded in its report that in Nigeria’s Middle Belt, nonstate militants also conducted attacks on houses of worship, religious ceremonies, and religious leaders, with Christian communities “hit particularly hard.” Last December, the Congressional Tom Lantos Commission held hearings eliciting similar reports. Over twenty Catholic priests have been abducted, reports the Jesuit magazine America, as well as unrecorded numbers of other Christian leaders. Many of them were also murdered: Fr. Alphonsus Bello was found dead on May 21, after being kidnapped from his parish in Sokoto state, along with Fr. Joe Keke, who remains missing. On May 19, an Assemblies of God church in northern Nigeria was attacked, killing eight people. On, May 17, gunmen attacked Kadaje community in Kaduna state, killing eight people and kidnapping 11 others, including a Catholic priest. On Jan. 15, Rev. John Gbakaan pastor of St. Anthony’s Church was abducted in Niger state, and found dead the next day, tied to a tree and mutilated by a machete. On Dec. 10, also in Niger state, Rev. Jeremiah Ibrahim of Evangelical Church Winning All was murdered, and his wife and four other women were taken hostage. Also last year, Rev. Lawan Andimi, chairman of the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) in Adamawa state, was beheaded after being abducted. Nigerian civil rights group International Society for Civil Liberties and Rule of Law reported that, in 2020, 2,400 Nigerian Christians were targeted and killed by jihadists, mostly by Fulani herdsmen. And this year through April, no fewer than 1,470 Christians were killed in jihadi attacks, including 89 who were Igbo Christians. I received stomach-churning photos of 50 others in the southern Oyo state who were hacked to death as they slept last Sunday night—such attacks feed a secessionist movement there. As the bishops lamented, there is typically no state investigation, arrest, or prosecution in these atrocity cases. Certainly, Christians aren’t Nigeria’s only atrocity victims but there can be no doubt that in certain areas they are targeted, and it’s because of their religion. Since December 2020, heavily armed gangs have abducted and ransomed almost 1,000 schoolchildren, reported the Wall Street Journal. These children are mostly Muslims but are targeted anyhow for defying the Islamists’ religious prohibition against Western education. Some 15 million Nigerian children are now barred from school, as a result, demonstrating the increasing control of the jihadists and their criminal partners. In this photo released by the Nigeria State House, freed Chibok schoolgirls sit during a meeting with Nigeria Vice President, Yemi Osinbajo, in Abuja, Nigeria, Thursday, Oct. 13, 2016. (Sunday Aghaeze/Nigeria State House via AP) Journalist Douglas Burton reported for The Epoch Times on Nigeria’s jihadi sex slavery. Teenager Leah Sharibu and 110 other Christian Chibok schoolgirls remain in captivity, as well as many other girls abducted in rural villages and from buses at jihadi checkpoints. Unless used as suicide bombers, these girls are forced to convert to Islam and submit to lives of sexual abuse as jihadi “wives.” (In 2014, ISIS wrote admiringly of Boko Haram for reviving the practice of enslaving infidel women, which it then copied on the Yazidis. ) The United States takes pride in its foreign policy to advance democratic freedoms, including religious freedom, around the world. The Biden administration urgently needs to turn unblinkered attention on Nigeria. It should begin by taking up Mr. Wolf’s recommendations. © 2021 The Epoch Times

At least 64 pro-government forces and 26 civilians have been killed in Afghanistan so far this month. June 3, 2021 | By Fatima Faizi and Najim Rahim The following report compiles all significant security incidents confirmed by New York Times reporters throughout Afghanistan for the month. It is necessarily incomplete as many local officials refuse to confirm casualty information. The report includes government claims of insurgent casualty figures, but in most cases these cannot be independently verified by The Times. Similarly, the reports do not include Taliban claims for their attacks on the government unless they can be verified. Both sides routinely inflate casualty totals for their opponents. June 1-3, 2021 At least 64 pro-government forces and 26 civilians were killed in Afghanistan in the first three days of June, as the Taliban ramp up attacks on Afghan security forces and the United States withdraws from the country. The deadliest attack occurred in Nangarhar Province, where Taliban coordinated attacks on several security outposts in Haska Meyna district. During the attack, three border soldiers and 37 territorial army soldiers were killed and 12 more were wounded. Five outposts and a base fell to the Taliban. [Read the Afghan War Casualty Report from previous weeks.] May 3 Uruzgan Province: Three police officers killed Coordinated attacks on Gizab district by the Taliban are underway. Fighting is ongoing in the government compound and a police headquarters. The Taliban attacked a prison and killed at least three police officers, including the head of the prison, though the overall death toll in the district could be much higher. Officials say they don’t have access to the district and if the reinforcements aren’t sent then the district will fall to the Taliban. June 3 Kabul Province: four civilians killed Four civilians were killed and five others were wounded when a bomb targeted a van in the Sixth Police District of Kabul city, the capital. This was the second of two van bombings in this police district, which is prominently Hazara, on June 3. June 3 Kabul Province: four civilians killed A van was targeted by a bomb in the Sixth Police District of Kabul city, killing four civilians, including two women, and wounding four others. June 3 Samangan Province: five militia members and two civilians killed During a Taliban attack on a military base in Dara-e-Suf Bala district, five pro-government militia members and two civilians were killed, and four pro-government militia members were wounded. June 3 Faryab Province: one police officer killed One police officer was killed during an operation by Afghan security forces in Maimana, the provincial capital. June 3 Herat Province: one civilian killed The deputy head of the religious scholars council for western Afghanistan was shot to death by unknown armed men in Injil district. The attackers fled the scene. No groups have claimed the responsibility yet. June 3 Herat Province: one civilian killed A man was shot and killed by unknown armed men in Kandahar city, the provincial capital. The attackers escaped the area. The police are investigating the case. June 3 Badakhshan Province: five pro-government militia members killed The Taliban attacked a village in Darayem district, killing five pro-government militia members and taking the village. June 2 Faryab Province: one militia member killed A pro-government militia member was killed in Shirin Tagab district when the militia’s outpost was attacked with a grenade. June 2 Balkh Province: two soldiers killed In an insider attack at an outpost in Charbolak district, two soldiers were killed and one more was wounded. The attacker joined the Taliban. June 2 Nangarhar Province: two civilians killed A roadside bomb targeting a C.I.A.-backed special operations unit in Jalalabad, the provincial capital, killed two civilians and wounded 10 others. June 2 Nangarhar Province: 40 security forces killed The Taliban attacked security outposts in Haska Meyna district. During the attack, three border soldiers and 37 territorial army soldiers were killed and 12 more were wounded. Five outposts and a base fell to the Taliban. June 1 Logar Province: one civilian killed The Taliban attacked a security forces supplier in Mohammad Agha district, killing one civilian and wounding two others. The civilian was a contractor for a police special forces unit. June 1 Kabul Province: 10 civilians killed Ten civilians were killed and 12 others were wounded when explosions targeted two public minibuses targeted in Kabul’s Third Police District. The attack took place in a Hazara neighborhood where local workers were heading home. June 1 Kapisa Province: four militia members killed The Taliban attacked security outposts in Tagab district, killing four pro-government militia members and wounding one more. The Taliban captured the outpost. June 1 Parwan Province: three N.D.S. officers and one civilian killed A vehicle carrying officers of the National Directorate of Security, Afghanistan’s intelligence agency, was targeted by a magnetic bomb in Charikar, the provincial capital, killing three N.D.S. officers and one civilian and wounding three N.D.S. officers and one civilian. _______________ Reporting was contributed by Zabihullah Ghazi from Jalalabad, Farooq Jan Mangal from Khost, Taimoor Shah from Kandahar and Asadullah Timory from Herat. © 2021 The New York Times Company

By EDITH M. LEDERER In this photo provided by the United Nations, International Criminal Court prosecutor Fatou Bensouda is shown on screen as she makes a virtual final address to the United Nations Security Council, Wednesday, June 9, 2021, at U.N. headquarters. (Eskinder Debebe/United Nations via AP) UNITED NATIONS (AP) — Fatou Bensouda briefed the U.N. Security Council for the last time as chief prosecutor of the International Criminal Court on Wednesday, lamenting that the tribunal has not yet brought justice to victims of atrocities in Sudan’s western Darfur region. But she said a new era in Sudan and the transfer of the first Darfur suspect to the court should give them hope. Bensouda said Darfur victims she spoke to last week had one message: Sudan’s transitional government should hand over three suspects sought by the court who are in its custody -- former President Omar al-Bashir, who is accused of genocide; former defense minister Abdel Raheem Hussein, and former interior minister and governor Ahmad Harun. Bensouda, whose mandate ends June 15, said she has focused on Darfur since crimes being committed there were referred to the the court by the Security Council in 2005, when she was deputy prosecutor. But her recent visit to Sudan and Darfur was a first — a memorable trip that she said was “a strong reminder that we should focus on achieving justice for the victims and finding lasting peace for the people of Darfur.” Bensouda cautioned, however, that “the road ahead remains long and fraught with dangers,” saying that Sudan’s transition following al-Bashir’s ouster in April 2019 after mass protests demanding civilian rule “is still in its infancy.” Still, she said, after years of hostility and no cooperation, “the ICC and the government of Sudan have turned a new page in their relationship” and have been engaging in “constructive dialogue” and a “good spirit of cooperation.” The vast Darfur region was gripped by bloodshed in 2003 when rebels from the territory’s ethnic central and sub-Saharan African community launched an insurgency accusing the Arab-dominated government in Khartoum of discrimination and neglect. The government, under al-Bashir, responded with a scorched-earth assault of aerial bombings and unleashed local nomadic Arab militias known as the Janjaweed, who are accused of mass killings and rapes. Up to 300,000 people were killed and 2.7 million were driven from their homes. In this Tuesday, Nov. 15, 2016, file photo, International Criminal Court prosecutor Fatou Bensouda waits for the start of trial in The Hague, Netherlands. Bensouda addressed the United Nations Security Council virtually on Wednesday, June 9, 2021, in her final briefing to the council. (AP Photo/Peter Dejong, File) Bensouda said she urged the handover of al-Bashir and the others at meetings with Sudanese government officials, including the head of the Sovereignty Council, Gen. Abdel-Fattah Burhan, and Prime Minister Abdalla Hamdok. “Sudan is under a legal obligation to surrender the suspects” under the Security Council resolution that referred Darfur to the court, she said. Bensouda said Harun’s transfer is urgent so he can be tried with Sudanese militia leader Ali Kushayb, who voluntarily surrendered a year ago to the court, which is based in The Hague, Netherlands. She appealed to the Security Council “to prevail upon Sudan to immediately honor Mr. Harun’s wish and facilitate his transfer to the ICC without delay.” Richard Dicker, the international justice director at Human Rights Watch, said: “It’s well past time for Khartoum to honor its responsibility to the victims of Darfur. Surrendering these three suspects would signal an indelible commitment to the rule of law.” Adam Day, program director at United Nations University’s Center for Policy Research who was a political officer with the U.N.-African Union peacekeeping force in Darfur in 2008, said the question now is: “What incentives can the international community offer the new Sudanese government to turn over the suspects to the ICC? ... Will major international donors insist that their support be conditioned on the handover of al-Bashir” and the others? “As a cash-strapped government in desperate need of support, that could tip the balance towards handover,” he told The Associated Press. Eric Reeves, a retired Smith College professor who has worked on Sudan for 22 years and is a trustee of the Darfur Bar Association, said Bensouda has spent her entire time trying to get the Darfur cases prosecuted “and has not succeeded.” “She knows as well as anyone if the court can’t bring convictions in the case of Darfur then the court has probably seen its relevance either diminished entirely or diminished to the point where it just can’t function,” he said in an AP interview. “If it fails it will be a major failure for international justice.” The International Criminal Court was officially established on July 1, 2002, to hold accountable perpetrators of the world’s most serious crimes -- genocide, war crimes and crimes against humanity -- in cases where adequate national judicial systems are not available. It has 123 member nations, and Bensouda’s staff is currently investigating alleged crimes in 13 other places from Congo, Central African Republic and Libya to Bangladesh-Myanmar, Afghanistan and occupied Palestinian territory. Darfur was the first referral to the court by the Security Council. Nine Security Council members that are parties to the court issued a statement after Wednesday’s council meeting calling for intensified efforts to surrender all suspects, commending Sudanese authorities and the U.N. for facilitating Bensouda’s visit, and expressing gratitude to the prosecutor for her persistence in fighting impunity and pursuing international justice “without fear or favor.” Day, at United Nations University, recalled that when Bensouda became prosecutor in 2011 the court faced criticism for being overly focused on African conflicts as well as the risk that some African countries might withdraw from the court. “One of Bensouda’s biggest accomplishments was in fact saving the ICC from that negative trajectory, restoring the legitimacy of the international community,” he said. “I think Bensouda has successfully kept Darfur on the Security Council’s agenda, and has made a consistent and well-reasoned point that peace in Darfur cannot be achieved without a meaningful reckoning with past human rights abuses,” Day said. Human Rights Watch’s Dicker referred to sanctions against Bensouda and another court official by President Donald Trump in 2020 over the court’s investigations into alleged war crimes by the United States in Afghanistan and by U.S. ally Israel in the Palestinian territories. They were lifted by the Biden administration April 2. “Fatou Bensouda brought a staunch commitment to defending the independence of her office in the face of unprecedented pressure that was aimed at exacting a high personal cost,” Dicker said. “Yet, she did not flinch. This prosecutorial legacy is fundamental to the court’s legitimacy.” © Copyright 2021 The Associated Press.

One of the most insidious effects of Covid-19 has been its worsening of contempt for human rights. Interviews with Dr. Gregory Stanton, Genocide Watch, and Dr. Rhoda Howard-Hassmann, Laurier U. Canada Karachi Express Tribune Article by Hammad Sarfraz June 05, 2021 As the novel coronavirus shaped into one of the most daunting crises the world has faced, it exposed and exacerbated pre-existing contempt for human rights. The already pitiable state of inequalities and injustices around the world has been made worse by the global health crisis which has given governments and leaders unprecedented authority to control and even trample the basic rights of their citizens – all in the name of public safety. Experts who have decades of experience in defending human rights warn that this trend will fuel the uncontrollable rise of authoritarianism, right-wing politics, extremism, racism, and indeed even the revival of fascism. Speaking from Washington DC, the United States and Hamilton, Canada, both Dr. Gregory H. Stanton, who is the founding President of Genocide Watch, and Dr. Rhoda E Howard-Hassmann, a leading human rights expert who is professor emeritus at Wilfrid Laurier University cautioned that the world is witnessing ta dangerous regression in human rights Both experts faulted former US President Donald Trump for encouraging the sharp regression in efforts to protect and promote a range of human rights. “Human rights regressed more during the four years of Donald Trump because the US was no longer leading the way – as it should – on human rights. Not that we should be the only leaders,” said Dr. Stanton during an hour-long interview. “We had a president who in many ways was opposed to human rights,” explained the former senior US Department of State advisor. While Trump’s defeat, he said, was a relief, the threat persists. “It is a relief that he was defeated, but no one should get the illusion that the US has really changed. Trump received 74 million votes and he came within a few electoral votes of being re-elected. So the systematic racism that is still characteristic in the US, and that I’ve fought against my whole life, is still very evident.” He said that Trump’s lack of interest in promoting human rights encouraged other countries to violate them in many ways and more so during the pandemic – which started on his watch. “The problem is that because we (the US) were not supportive of human rights in so much of the world, a lot of other countries also became worse for human rights,” said Dr. Stanton, who is known for drafting the United Nations Security Council resolutions that created the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda, the Burundi Commission of Inquiry, and the Central African Arms Flow Commission. Witnessing the aftermath of the Cambodian Genocide in 1980, Dr. Stanton felt called to make it his life's work to bring Khmer Rouge leaders to justice. That calling, according to Dr. Stanton, grew into the Rwanda Tribunal and the founding of Genocide Watch, a global movement to prevent future genocides and crimes against humanity. During the no holds barred interview over Zoom, Dr. Stanton was quick to steer the discussion to human rights violations in other parts of the world that appear to have been accelerated during the pandemic. India, under Prime Minister Narendra Modi, he said has used the restrictions to limit life further in Kashmir. “Modi has 600,000 Indian troops in Kashmir and the place is in a lockdown. In many ways, it is a police state. So discrimination continues.” Pointing out other discriminatory policies including the Citizenship Amendment Act, which he said, is designed to specifically discriminate against Muslims, the Modi government is trying to accelerate the process of alienating a significant portion of India’s population – primarily based on their religion. “Modi is forcing Muslims to produce documents to prove their Indian citizenship in Assam. You could ask an average person here in the US and they might not have any proof that they are citizens. This is the sort of discrimination we now see in India,” he said. Blaming former president Trump, he said: “In Russia, it is due to our former president’s complaisance and his almost agreement that enabled Putin to clamp down on all dissent and to persecute the main opposition leader and to try to poison him.” Dr. Stanton also said persecution and violation of basic rights had increased in places like Myanmar, Nigeria, the Philippines, and even Hungary, a European state. According to him, human rights violations have become the third rail of the global agenda during the pandemic. “The pandemic has made everything worse because it has dissolved the social bonds that allow people to act together for social justice. I believe that there are two basic divine forces in the world that we are part of: The first is love, which is the way God’s force is personally expressed. The second is justice, which is the way God’s force is socially expressed.” When you dissolve the social fabric of a country, he explained, you automatically weaken the forces of justice. “Many dictators around the world have taken advantage of the Covid epidemic to defeat human rights movements in their countries,” said Dr. Stanton, who is known globally for drafting the Ten Stages of Genocide. The restrictions on public gatherings during the pandemic, he said, enables governments to extend their authoritarian policies. “Due to the restriction on social gatherings, you can’t have demonstrations. So it makes it very difficult during Covid to organize movements that can defeat forces of tyranny.” “We are seeing it right now in Myanmar, where you have an army – the Tatmadaw – that is literally shooting people in the streets. And yes, those wonderful people of Myanmar still go out facing down those guns – realizing they will be shot. And they still go out every day. Now that is the kind of courage that is required to defeat tyranny,” he added. Vaccine nationalism In the wake of the global pandemic, Dr. Stanton said the forces of nationalism have gotten even stronger. We are seeing this selfishness by nation-states about vaccines. “We are seeing this selfishness by nation-states about vaccines. They are unwilling to share their vaccines with other nations when we have a global pandemic. If we don’t defeat it everywhere in the world, we won’t be able to defeat it. It is a threat to every human being on the face of this planet,” said Dr. Stanton, who served as a young Peace Corps vaccinator during the smallpox eradication program many decades ago. The human race, he said, can only defeat a global threat if it concentrates and cooperates. “There is no other way to win this battle.” People like Trump, he said, fan the flames of nationalism when they label Covid-19 as the Chinese virus. “Viruses don’t have nationalities or passports. Until we realize that and are willing to share the vaccine with everyone, we won’t be able to defeat the pandemic. We have enough vaccines here in the United States and we should be giving them away,” he said. Dr. Stanton noted that there has been a sharp increase in nationalistic tendencies around the world during the pandemic. “Nationalism turns into fascism, and that’s when you start believing that you’re the chosen race, and everyone else is the “other.” One national group starts believing it has a special right to take over everything.” Selective approach Over the last four years and particularly since the onset of the pandemic, the United States has been accused of being selective in its approach towards human rights violations. When asked about Washington’s behavior, Dr. Stanton responded candidly: “I agree that the United States has been selective. There has always been tension in our foreign policy between advocates of realism and idealism. The struggle has been going on for decades – even while I was at the US Department of State.” At one point after presenting the 10 stages of Genocide at a briefing at the State Department in Foggy Bottom, Dr. Stanton recalls, he was questioned by then-Deputy Secretary of State and long-time diplomat, George F. Ward about how preventing genocide was in the national interest of the United States. “I told Ambassador Ward that it depends on how you define our national interest. If you define our national interest narrowly in terms of controlling oil and strategic positions, it really has very little to do with our national interest. But if you have a broader view, a longer view, of our national interest, then you will see that it is in the US’s national interest to promote human dignity and the thriving of people all around the world. Through that vision, more nations will become democratic, more nations will see liberty – and that is in our national interest.” He said it should be in the long-term interest of every country to protect and promote human rights. “I do know there is a growing realization in Washington now compared to four years ago that it is in our national interest to promote human rights and prevent genocide.” When probed further about US policies on human rights and how Washington’s selective approach had harmed the cause, Dr. Stanton said: “I am afraid that our record hasn’t been good during recent times. I hope the US becomes more consistent in its approach towards human rights in the future.” Can Biden protect human rights? Urging the Biden administration to be more consistent in its human rights policies, Dr. Stanton said, the United States has failed to prevent genocide in the past. Referring to what happened in Rwanda, he said: “We haven’t done much to prevent genocide. The only response we have had was to send in humanitarian aid. That has not been a viable policy. “We need to do much more to prevent genocide before it happens, and to stop genocide when it is underway,” he said during the wide-ranging interview. Preventing violations When asked about how the world can prevent human rights violations, the former research professor in Genocide Studies and Prevention at the George Mason University said: “You simply need to prosecute those who violate human rights. There is no other way to prevent this from repeating.” He told The Express Tribune that while respect faded for human rights during the Trump presidency, he is hopeful that the social fabric can be repaired. “All we need is good leadership to repair the divisions and protect human rights.” The enforcement mechanism of global treaties that safeguard human rights, he said, needs to be revisited. “We have no enforcement at all for the Genocide Convention. There is no committee, commission or panel that monitors how well countries are educating their populace to prevent genocide,” said Dr Stanton, who has served also as the President of the International Association of Genocide Scholars. He urged that the world needs a multilateral court system to deal with human rights violations. The whole idea of the universal jurisdiction, he said, needs to be revisited. Violations in the US At home in the US, he described President Trump’s nationalism as racism on steroids. “That’s what nationalism is ... racism on steroids. It doesn’t work in this current interdependent world. We need to reinvent how the world is organized,” Dr. Stanton explained. “What we have seen here in the United States under Trump is a rebirth of much of the racist injustice that was characteristic of our Southern States just in the 1950s.” Reminiscing about the time he worked as a civil rights worker in Mississippi at the peak of segregation, he said: “There were separate toilets for white and black people. White people could eat inside a restaurant and the black people could only get a takeaway.” These systemic systems of discrimination, he said, can be dissolved by the will of the people. “They will be dissolved just like the structures people try to erect in the path of the ocean… the sea walls people put up to keep the ocean out. We know what happens to them when you have a hurricane. It is that kind of force that will undermine these walls and eventually wash them away.” When asked if he had any hope that the current tide against human rights will be reversed, Dr. Stanton said: “I strongly believe that these forces of tyranny will be defeated by the will and strength of the people. It is what drove the civil rights movement here in the United States.” In the face of tyrannical oppression in the US against black people, he recalled, the black church became the center of resistance. He concluded by quoting Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., the activist who became the most visible spokesperson and leader in the American civil rights movement: “We shall overcome.” Promised for all? Speaking from Canada, Dr. Rhoda E. Howard-Hassmann, a distinguished scholar of human rights, shared a grim picture of the world -- where she said, contempt for human rights appears to have increased during the pandemic. Asked about the notion of human rights being universal, Dr. Howard-Hassmann said: “Human rights have never been universally guaranteed in practice; they are universal in principle.” “While it is true that some rich, developed countries were influential in formulating the United Nations’ Universal Declaration of Human Rights in 1948, so were several independent non- Western countries such as India and Iran. The only groups that had no influence were colonized sub-Saharan African and indigenous peoples.” The author of Can Globalization Promote Human Rights? said: “People who don’t live in developed countries need human rights even more than people in developed nations do.” When asked if the current disregard was the step towards a post-human rights world, the Ontario-based professor said: “I doubt very much that we are moving to a post-human rights world. People will always want the types of freedoms, protections, and material security that the international human rights laws and norms provide in law and principle.” Besieged with multiple problems, she said, the global human rights movement’s survival depends on how vigorously we fight for it. “We will all have to fight vigorously, though, against the political authoritarianism and fascism that are currently emerging in various countries.” The biggest challenge, she said, is always corrupt, self-interested elites that control states, wherever they are. “The other challenge is unbridled capitalism which ignores the dangers of climate change, inequality, and continued discrimination. Racism, genocide, patriarchy, and homophobia are always constant challenges,” explained Dr. Howard-Hassmann by email from Canada. The tide against human rights, she said, can be reversed when civil society groups mount pressure upon the elites that control the governments and the international economy. However, she acknowledged that the movement becomes difficult when governments throw civil society actors in jail with impunity, or torture or execute them. “Then there is very little possibility of change,” said the former professor who also held the Canada Research Chair in International Human Rights at the Wilfrid Laurier University. Towards the end, she said human rights should be treated as a global cause and not just left for one country or a group of countries to defend. The Express Tribune, Karachi, Pakistan © 2021

Barr Ejiofor’s PA Shot Dead, Elder Brother, Driver, Two Others Abducted And Taken Away With His Camry Car …after soldiers, police, and civil defense invaded his house at 2.30 am with 15 hilux vans and a native doctor. Intersociety, Onitsha, Eastern Nigeria Sunday, 6th June 2021 The International Society for Civil Liberties and Rule of Law has again called Barr Ifeanyi Ejiofor and received updates on the wee hour of this morning’s invasion of his family house at Oraifite by armed soldiers, joined by Police, DSS, and Civil Defense operatives. They had invaded and laid siege on the same at about 2.30 am and left around past 4.am. The invading security operatives had jumped the perimeter fence of the compound after cutting its security cable and shot in different directions. The named security operatives had also in their jihadist Fulani Herdsmen-like invasion, stormed the scene with fifteen hilux vans and a native doctor whose body was dotted with charms. These were disclosed by Barr Ifeanyi Ejiofor’s elder brother, Joel Ejiofor, who witnessed the attack. The respected Human Rights Lawyer who is also the principal attorney to the Leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra, Maazi Nnamdi Kanu, and several other groups and individuals, was unable to be tracked and abducted or instantly shot dead because he was hiding somewhere in his house. However, the invading Government security operatives did not spare the life of the Lawyer’s Personal Assistant, Samuel Uzo Okoro (Biggy) who was shot and killed inside the compound. The late Samuel Okoro had woken up as a result of noises and gunshots to find out what was going on when soldiers shot and killed him instantly. Unable to locate the Lawyer and having shot and killed his PA, Samuel Okoro, the soldiers, and others carried his corpse and dumped same in the boot of a Camry car belonging to Barr Ifeanyi Ejiofor and ordered his chief driver (fondly called ‘Papa’ or ‘Elder’) to drive the car and follow them with the corpse. The invading Government security operatives also abducted Barr Ejiofor’s elder brother, Joel Ejiofor, and The Lawyer’s two domestic, named Ugochukwu and Chikezie, and bundled them away. The Lawyer’s elder brother, Joel was later pushed out of one of the hilux vans at Ojoto en route Awka, Anambra State, and he has since returned alive and unhurt. The invading soldiers and other security operatives were also discovered to have been mobilized from Abuja and Anambra State including soldiers of the 302 Artillery Regiment, Onitsha and Police, DSS, and Civil Defense operatives from Anambra State and their Abuja counterparts. The International Society for Civil Liberties and Rule of Law has received distress calls from lawyers working in the Law Firm of Barr Ifeanyi Ejiofor (I.C. Ejiofor and Co), Abuja, informing us that the combined team of armed soldiers, SSS, and Police have surrounded the Oraifite nuclear and extended Family Houses of Barr ‘Onowu’ Ifeanyi Ejiofor and his siblings; and cordoned off the entire exits and entries and placed the whole area under siege. The latest armed violence from the Government of Nigeria started some minutes before 3 am the early morning of today being Sunday, 6th June 2021, and Intersociety was alerted around some minutes before 4 am, leading to the issuance of this urgent statement. We also managed to reach Barr Ifeanyi Ejiofor on phone and he confirmed the attack, saying that “soldiers, joined by Police and SSS operatives are shooting in different directions and are about breaking into his main compound”. He also said that “he heard the distress voices of his village neighbors panicking and crying, indicating that they must have been abducted and they are likely to include early morning neighborhood sales attendants and those returning from church vigils, etc”. The activist Lawyer also suspected that some members of his family including security and domestic aides might have been abducted and that he had returned home for the weekend yesterday evening and only informed the Oraifite Area Commander (ACP Afolabi) and few others that he was around. It must be recalled that Barr Ifeanyi Ejiofor, his siblings, and their family houses in Oraifite, Ekwusigo, Anambra State were ferociously attacked on 2nd Dec 2019. His heavily pregnant wife narrowly escaped having a miscarriage and later delivered miraculously. The attacks had taken place on the said 2nd Dec 2019 immediately after the family’s outing church service held for his late brother, a priest of the Anglican Church. Barr Ejiofor also narrowly escaped being killed by soldiers and police. In the end, five persons including his domestic aides were shot and killed and scores of others injured. The irate youths of the Community protested angrily near the Community’s Market Square leading to the loss of two principal police officers. The Nigerian Government swiftly deployed troops and burnt down 22 properties including a dozen family houses and ten sales stores. Following the ferocious attacks, Barr Ifeanyi Ejiofor went underground for months and shut down his law offices in Abuja, Nnewi, etc. We, therefore, call on the Nigerian Government and the country’s Muslim-dominated and controlled security forces to stop this madness and crudity. By these crudities, the Nigerian Government is setting the country on fire more and this is what Intersociety, as an expert rights group, has kept telling the Nigerian Government since 2016. The crude method by the Government of Nigeria including invasion of citizens’ homes at ungodly hours especially the dwelling homes of respected and legally recognizable persons and brazen violation of their rights to privacy and family is universally unheard of, despicable, and condemnable. Barr Ifeanyi Ejiofor as a respected member of the Nigerian Bar Association and licensed legal practitioner is above board and beyond being treated as a duly investigated and indicted common criminal on the run. Also under Nigeria’s extant laws, applicable globally, Barr Ifeanyi Ejiofor and other licensed legal practitioners have the right and duty to represent and defend any citizen or citizens or national or nationals irrespective of the gravity of crime(s) alleged to have been committed. The security forces of Nigeria are hereby called upon to withdraw and discontinue their siege and follow due process. If Barr Ifeanyi Ejiofor is legitimately wanted for any crime, due processes must be followed to the letter. This is more so when he called and informed the chief police officer in the area (ACP Afolabi) of his being around for weekend rest. Therefore, if anything untoward happened to the Lawyer and his family or properties including his family house and law offices, the world is being put on notice to hold the Nigerian government responsible. Signed: Emeka Umeagbalasi, M.Sc., Board Chair Barr Chidimma Udegbunam Access the full article here. The International Society for Civil Liberties and Rule of Law © 2021

"Complicit" Film and Post Film Discussion with the filmmaker Robert Krakow in conversation with SS St. Louis Passengers, Sonja Geismar and Eva Wiener. Thursday, June 10, 2021 4:00 PM Eastern Time Zoom- Registration closes one hour prior to the event. https://www.eventbrite.com/e/complicit-film-and-post-film-discussion-registration-153404485947?aff=RabinChairForum (The film link will be sent out via Eventbrite no later than Sunday, June 6 at 8:00am ET. If you register after that time, look for the link to the film in your confirmation email. The link will expire on Thursday, June 10.) Classrooms Without Borders, in partnership with Rodef Shalom Congregation and the George Washington University's Rabin Chair Forum, is excited to offer the opportunity to watch the film "Complicit" and engage in a post-film discussion with the filmmaker Robert Krakow in conversation with SS St. Louis Passengers, Sonja Geismar and Eva Wiener. Complicit is a production of the SS St Louis Legacy Project and is touring as part of the 82nd anniversary of the voyage of the SS St Louis. The film contains rare footage and candid interviews with the heroic Jewish refugees from Germany who were turned away by the United States in June, 1939 and who returned to the US to make extraordinary contributions to American society. It also includes never-before-seen footage of the US Special Envoy Hannah Rosenthal’s exposé of America’s inadequate response to the Jewish refugee crisis of the time. Walter Reich Yitzhak Rabin Memorial Professor of International Affairs, Ethics, and Human Behavior Professor of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences The George Washington University

UN independent human rights experts have called for the immediate release of a jailed social media activist in Belarus amid what they described as a “black hole” for media freedoms in the country, according to a statement issued on Monday. Published 7 June 2021 Kseniya Halubovich | Protesters vent their anger at the results of the presidential election in Belarus in 2020. (file) The five Special Rapporteurs expressed outrage at the arrest, alleged torture and forced confession of opposition journalist Roman Protasevich (Raman Pratasevich), who was arbitrarily detained on 23 May in a case that sparked international condemnation. Mr Protasevich, 26, was on a Ryanair flight from Greece to Lithuania that was forcibly diverted to the Belarusian capital, Minsk, due to a supposed bomb threat. ‘Reckless’ arrest, reported torture He was arrested when the passengers disembarked and reportedly charged with inciting public disorder and social hatred, in the wake of the disputed August 2020 presidential election, which saw longtime leader Alexander Lukashenko returned to power, sparking months of mass protests. “The reckless manner in which Roman Protasevich was arrested, reports that he may have been tortured in order to extract a false confession, was denied access to his lawyer, and fears that he could face a harsh sentence show an utter disregard for international human rights norms by the authorities in Belarus,” the UN experts said. The independent experts expressed deep concern for Mr Protasevich’s life and called for his immediate release, and that of other journalists, human rights defenders and activists detained in Belarus. ‘Severe and relentless crackdown’ “The outrageous manner in which Mr. Protasevich was intercepted and arrested shows that there is no limit to what this government will do to silence critics. It is an egregious example of a severe and relentless crackdown on all independent voices since the contested election results of August 2020,” they added. They recalled that last month the authorities raided the offices of Tut.by, the country’s largest independent online news site, which had covered protests following the election results. Searches were also carried out at the homes of several staff members, and documents were confiscated. At least 13 staff were reportedly detained, some of whom did not have access to a lawyer, allegedly in connection with a criminal investigation into tax evasion. Last December, the site was stripped of its media license, supposedly for spreading “false information”. “Recent events indicate that media freedom in Belarus has entered a black hole with no end in sight”, the experts said. “In the run-up to the 2020 presidential election and in its aftermath, the authorities have arbitrarily detained and beaten journalists, opposition members, human rights defenders and citizens participating in peaceful protests, prosecuted them on politically motivated charges, revoked media workers’ accreditation, raided their homes and offices, and blocked their websites.” Step up pressure The experts have also expressed serious concern over recent amendments to the laws on mass media and on mass gatherings, which allow the authorities to block the work of any media outlet that publishes content which “threatens national security”. Similarly, the authorities can also block access to websites that disseminate information that is “aimed at promoting extremist activity” or which is “capable of harming the national interest”. They urged countries “to ramp up pressure on the Belarusian authorities to stop attacks on media freedom, release journalists, human rights defenders and others who are arbitrarily detained; and ensure independent, transparent and impartial investigations into all reported human rights violations committed in the context of the election, including allegations of torture and arbitrary detention.” Role of Special Rapporteurs The five Special Rapporteurs who issued the statement monitor issues such as the situation of human rights in Belarus, as well as the rights to freedom of peaceful assembly and association worldwide. They were appointed by the UN Human Rights Council, which is based in Geneva, and are not UN staff nor are they paid by the Organization. © 2021 UN News

Attackers Target Girls Leaving Kabul High School May 10, 2021 | By Heather Barr Scenes from Sayed ul-Shuhada High School in Kabul, Afghanistan, where as many as 85 people including many schoolgirls were killed in an attack this weekend, should break anyone’s heart. They certainly broke mine. In 2017 a filmmaker and I spent a week at the school, filming a video to accompany a report on barriers to girls’ education. The school had difficulties providing girls an education. Girls studied outdoors, in tattered tents or the open air, and the school was desperately overcrowded. Girls lacked essential facilities such as toilets and a library, and faced hardships outside school, too. Their neighborhood is very impoverished, populated predominantly by members of Afghanistan’s Hazara minority. It has increasingly been targeted for attack, including on a local maternity hospital in May 2020. Families were often unable to afford transportation and many girls walked 45 minutes or more to get there. Many worked in addition to studying, at jobs such as carpet-making and tailoring, to support their families. But what shone through was the girls’ determination to study no matter what. In a country where less than 30 percent of women can read, these girls bring hope for a brighter future. They were funny and lively, like girls anywhere, but also deadly serious about getting an education. This makes their senseless killing so particularly devastating. This is a perilous moment for Afghanistan. All US troops are slated to leave the country by September 11, 2021; other NATO troops are going too. A devastating picture of what lies ahead is emerging, one of rising violence and likely increased Taliban control, both of which will disproportionately harm women and girls. Intensifying fighting may also bring more atrocities by the Afghan branch of the Islamic State (ISIS), which has been behind many of the attacks on Hazaras. Recent months have brought attacks on female journalists and other high-profile women. US President Joe Biden has called “the end of America’s longest war” an accomplishment. But the war has in no way ended, and its front line yet again reached the gates of a girls’ school. The US and other countries withdrawing troops should understand that their responsibility to Afghan girls and women is not finished. They should assist efforts to investigate and ensure accountability for this and other unlawful attacks on civilians, and support safe access to essential services like education for everyone. © 2021 Human Rights Watch

Published May 6, 2021 | Updated June 3, 2021 | By Fatima Faizi, Fahim Abed and Najim Rahim At least 405 pro-government forces and 260 civilians were killed in Afghanistan in May, the highest total death toll in a single month since July 2019. The following report compiles all significant security incidents confirmed by New York Times reporters throughout Afghanistan for the month. It is necessarily incomplete as many local officials refuse to confirm casualty information. The report includes government claims of insurgent casualty figures, but in most cases, these cannot be independently verified by The Times. Similarly, the reports do not include Taliban claims for their attacks on the government unless they can be verified. Both sides routinely inflate casualty totals for their opponents. May 28-31, 2021 At least 46 pro-government forces and 29 civilians were killed in Afghanistan in the final four days of the month, giving May the highest total death toll in a single month since July 2019. The deadliest attack occurred in Jowzjan Province, where the Taliban attacked a security outpost in Faizabad district, killing five pro-government militia members and three police officers and a civilian. The outpost was overrun by the Taliban. In Helmand, a car bomb attributed to the Taliban targeted a security base in Gereshk district, killing three commandos and four soldiers and wounding 52 others. [Read the Afghan War Casualty Report from previous weeks.] May 31 Herat Province: two civilians killed During a firefight between the Taliban and Afghan security forces in Ghoryan district, two civilians were killed and five others were wounded. May 31 Kabul Province: one police officer killed A police officer was gunned down by unknown armed men in the 12th Police District of Kabul city, the capital. The attackers managed to escape the area. An investigation is underway. May 31 Baghlan Province: one police officer killed The Taliban attacked a security checkpoint in Khost district, killing one police officer. After a five-hour clash, the Taliban were pushed back from the area. May 31 Balkh Province: one civilian killed Unknown armed men shot and killed a civilian inside his shop in the Eighth Police District of Mazar-i-Sharif, the provincial capital. May 31 Jowzjan Province: six civilians killed A rickshaw was hit by a rocket in Faizabad district during a firefight between the Taliban and Afghan security forces. Six civilians, including two children, were killed and one child was wounded. May 31 Ghazni Province: one civilian killed A tribal elder was shot to death by unknown gunmen in Ghazni city, the provincial capital. The attackers then fled the scene. May 31 Faryab Province: one pro-government militia member killed In an insider attack, a pro-government militia commander was killed in his outpost in Qurghan district. The attacker then joined the Taliban, which confirmed they were behind the attack. May 31 Baghlan Province: seven security forces killed A Humvee packed with explosives targeted a police headquarters in Baghlan-e-Markazi district, killing four police officers, two soldiers and one commando and wounding 12 security forces and 16 civilians. May 30 Badghis Province: one soldier killed The Taliban attacked Jawand district center, killing one soldier and wounding one more. The fighting continued for two hours, but the Taliban were pushed back. May 30 Badghis Province: one N.D.S. killed During a Taliban attack on a security outpost in Ab-Kamari district, an officer of the National Directorate of Security, Afghanistan’s intelligence agency, was killed. May 30 Parwan Province: one civilian killed A civilian was killed and one more was wounded by unknown armed men in Charikar, the provincial capital. The attackers fled the area. May 30 Parwan Province: one police officer killed The deputy police chief of Kapisa Province was gunned down by unknown armed men in Charikar while he was returning to his office. May 30 Parwan Province: one police officer killed The Taliban ambushed a convoy of Afghan security forces in Shinwari district while they were driving to Daikundi Province. During the attack, one police officer was killed and two others were wounded. May 30 Jowzjan Province: eight security forces and one civilian killed The Taliban attacked a security outpost in Faizabad district, killing five pro-government militia members and three police officers and a civilian. The outpost was overrun by the Taliban. May 29 Herat Province: six soldiers killed A military vehicle was hit by a roadside bomb in Ghoryan district, killing six soldiers. May 29 Kapisa Province: seven civilians killed A mortar round fired by the Taliban during a firefight between the insurgents and Afghan security forces hit a wedding party in Tagab district, killing seven civilians and wounding six others. May 29 Parwan Province: four civilians killed Four civilians were killed and 11 more were wounded in an explosion that targeted a vehicle carrying Alberoni University professors and students in Charikar. They were traveling from Kabul to Kapisa province. May 29 Paktika Province: one police officer killed A police officer was killed and two others were wounded by a roadside bomb explosion in Sarhawaza district. May 29 Badghis Province: one N.D.S. officer killed A roadside bomb exploded in Moqor district, killing an N.D.S. officer. May 28 Badghis Province: one N.D.S. officer killed The Taliban shot and killed an N.D.S. officer in Moqor district. May 28 Badghis Province: two civilians killed Two civilians driving up to a checkpoint in Ab-Kamari district were shot and killed by Afghan security forces when they didn’t pay attention to the warning to stop. May 28 Zabul Province: five police officers killed The Taliban attacked security outposts in Qalat, the provincial capital, killing five police officers and wounding three others. May 28 Faryab Province: two police officers killed In Khwaja Sabz Posh district, two police officers were killed and an outpost fell to the Taliban, who were retaliating after an operation by Afghan police forces. May 28 Kunduz Province: one pro-government militia member killed One pro-government militia member was killed during an operation by the Afghan security forces against the Taliban in Imam Sahib district. May 28 Daikundi Province: one civilian killed A roadside bomb exploded in Pato district, killing one child and wounding three more. May 28 Helmand Province: three civilians killed A Taliban mortar round hit a house in Gereshk district, killing three civilians, including two women, and wounding five others. May 28 Helmand Province: seven security forces killed A car bomb attributed to the Taliban targeted a security base in Gereshk district, killing three commandos and four soldiers and wounding 52 others. May 21-27, 2021 At least 72 pro-government forces and 27 civilians were killed in Afghanistan the past week. The deadliest incident occurred in Baghlan Province, where the Taliban attacked a security outpost in Gozargah-e-Noor district, killing eight territorial army soldiers and wounding 10 others. In Badakhshan, the Taliban attacked a pro-government militia commander’s house in Darayem district, killing six pro-government militia members, including the commander. Since May 1, at least 26 outposts and bases in just four provinces — Laghman, Baghlan, Wardak and Ghazni — have surrendered after negotiations with the Taliban, according to village elders and government officials. With morale diving as American troops leave, and the Taliban seizing on each surrender as a propaganda victory, each collapse feeds the next in the Afghan countryside. [Read the Afghan War Casualty Report from previous weeks.] May 27 Kapisa Province: three civilians killed Three civilians, including a tribal elder, were killed in a bomb explosion in Mahmoud Raqi, the provincial capital. No group has claimed responsibility. May 26 Farah Province: one civilian killed A female employee of Farah prison was killed by the Taliban in Farah city, the provincial capital, while she was traveling in their controlled area. May 26 Takhar Province: one militia member killed During a Taliban attack on security outposts in Taliqan, the provincial capital, a pro-government militia member was killed and one more was wounded. The Taliban retreated from the area. May 26 Balkh Province: one soldier killed The Taliban attacked Sholgara district’s center, killing one soldier and wounding one other. The Taliban were pushed back from the district. May 26 Faryab Province: four civilians killed Four civilians were killed and six civilians and two security forces were wounded by a mortar round fired by the Taliban in Qaisar district. May 26 Kabul Province: two N.D.S. officers killed Unknown gunmen shot and killed two officers of the National Directorate of Security, Afghanistan’s intelligence agency, in the Fifth Police District of Kabul, the capital. The attackers managed to flee the scene. May 26 Takhar Province: three pro-government militia member killed The Taliban ambushed security forces in the center of Yangi Qala district while they were on a patrol, killing three pro-government militia members. May 26 Badghis Province: five N.D.S. forces killed Five N.D.S. officers were killed in a Taliban ambush in Qala-e-Naw, the provincial capital. May 25 Kabul Province: one civilian killed A civilian was shot to death by unknown armed men in Bagrami district. The attackers escaped the area. May 25 Logar Province: four civilians killed A mortar fired by an unknown group hit a house in Baraki Barak district, killing four civilians. May 25 Jowzjan Province: six pro-government militia members killed Six pro-government militia members were killed in a Taliban attack on Aqcha district. An outpost fell to the Taliban and the fighting went on for more 24 hours. The district is under the siege and the Taliban placed roadside bombs along the highway. May 25 Parwan Province: one civilian and one police officer killed Unknown armed men shot and killed a civilian and a police officer in Sayed Khel district and escaped the area. May 24 Nangarhar Province: five security forces killed The Taliban attacked security outposts in Achin district, killing four territorial army and one border soldier and wounding six others. May 24 Logar Province: one security force killed A security guard of Afghanistan’s National Bank was gunned down in Puli-e-Alam, the provincial capital. The attacker fled the scene. May 24 Baghlan Province: three soldiers killed During a Taliban attack on security outposts in Baghlan-e-Markazi district, three soldiers were killed. The outposts fell to the Taliban and the Afghan security forces retreated from the area. May 24 Badakhshan Province: two militia members killed Two pro-government militia members were killed and seven others, including three civilians, were wounded during a Taliban attack in Yaftal-e-Bala district. May 24 Kabul Province: one soldier killed A magnetic bomb attached to a police vehicle exploded in Bagrami district, killing one police officer and wounding one more. May 23 Baghlan Province: three civilians killed Three civilians, including two women, were killed in an airstrike in Pul-e-Khumri, the provincial capital. May 23 Kunduz Province: one soldier killed A soldier was killed and two others were wounded in a Taliban ambush in Imam Sahib district. The fighting continued for a few hours, but the security forces managed to get out. May 23 Badakhshan Province: two security forces killed The Taliban attacked security outposts in Wardoj district center, killing two territorial army soldiers and wounding six others. The Taliban were pushed back from the district. May 23 Helmand Province: two civilians killed Two Hazara civilians were shot to death by unknown gunmen after evening prayer in Greshk district. The attackers managed to escape. May 23 Takhar Province: one N.D.S. officer killed An N.D.S. officer was killed by the Taliban in Hazar Smuch district while he was on his way home. May 23 Logar Province: two N.D.S. officers killed The Taliban attacked and killed two N.D.S. officers while they were patrolling in Mohammad Agha district. May 23 Laghman Province: one police officer killed The Taliban attacked a security outpost in Mehtarlam, the provincial capital, killing a police officer. May 23 Kunduz Province: four civilians killed Unknown armed men attacked a house in Khanabad district, killing four civilians, including a woman, and wounding three others. The attackers fled the area. No group has claimed responsibility for the attack. An investigation is underway. May 23 Kandahar Province: one police officer killed Armed men on a motorcycle shot and killed a police officer in Kandahar city, the provincial capital. The attacker escaped the scene. May 23 Badakhshan Province: six security forces killed The Taliban attacked a pro-government militia commander’s house in Darayem district. During the clash, six pro-government militia members, including the commander, were killed, and the Taliban seized their equipment. May 23 Parwan Province: one civilian killed A religious scholar was shot dead by unknown armed men in Sayed Khel district. No group has claimed responsibility so far. May 23 Herat Province: two militia members killed Two pro-government militia members were killed and one more was wounded by Taliban snipers in Chesht-e-Sharif district. Two Taliban attackers were killed in response and others fled the area. May 22 Baghlan Province: eight pro-government militia members killed During a Taliban attack on a security outpost in Gozargah-e-Noor district, eight territorial army soldiers were killed, and 10 others were wounded. May 22 Helmand Province: three civilians killed A rocket hit a house in Lashkar Gah, the provincial capital, killing three children and wounding two others. May 22 Badghis Province: one soldier killed The Taliban attacked an army outpost in Qadis district. During two hours of fighting, one soldier was killed. May 22 Kabul Province: one civilian killed A former pro-government militia commander from Wardak was shot and killed by unknown gunmen in Kabul’s Fifth Police District. May 22 Faryab Province: four security forces killed A Humvee was targeted by a roadside bomb in Almar district. Three soldiers and a pro-government militia member were killed. May 22 Baghlan Province: two civilians killed A mortar round fired by the Taliban hit a market in Nahrin district, killing two civilians and wounding four others. May 22 Jowzjan Province: one militia member killed A pro-government militia commander was killed by his bodyguard in Aqcha district center. The attacker managed to flee the area. May 21 Takhar Province: one civilian killed A Taliban mortar round hit a house in Taliqan, the provincial capital, killing an 8-year-old child and wounding another child and a woman. May 21 Zabul Province: five police officers killed During a clash between the Taliban and Afghan security forces in Shar-e-Safa district, five police officers were killed. May 21 Kapisa Province: two militia members killed Two pro-government militia members were killed and four others were wounded in a Taliban attack in Tagab district. May 14-20, 2021 At least 40 pro-government forces and 34 civilians were killed in Afghanistan the past week. In Kabul Province, a bomb exploded in a mosque in Shakardara district during Friday prayer, killing 12 civilians, including the imam, and wounding 15 others. The Islamic State claimed responsibility for the attack. In Zabul Province, during a Taliban attack on security checkpoints in Qalat, the provincial capital, six police officers, including a commander, were killed and three others were wounded. May 20 Herat Province: one police officer killed Unknown gunmen shot and killed a police officer in the 13th Police District of Herat city, the provincial capital. The shooter managed to escape the scene. May 20 Logar Province: one police officer killed A police officer was gunned down and one more was wounded in the Taliban attack in the provincial capital, Pul-e-Alam. May 20 Jowzjan: one civilian killed A military prosecutor was killed when a magnetic bomb attached to a private vehicle exploded in the provincial capital, Sheberghan. May 20 Ghor Province: three civilians killed Three civilians, including two children, were killed in a roadside bomb blast in the provincial capital, Firoz Koh. May 19 Zabul Province: six police officers killed During a Taliban attack on security checkpoints in Qalat, the provincial capital, six police officers, including a commander, were killed and three others were wounded. May 19 Ghor Province: two civilians killed A roadside bomb went off in Firoz Koh, killing two civilians and wounding one more. May 19 Ghor Province: three civilians killed Three Hazara civilians were killed by the Taliban while they were traveling from Ghor to Herat province in Firoz Koh. May 19 Helmand Province: one civilian killed A mortar hit a civilian house in Lashkar Gah, the provincial capital, killing a civilian. It is unclear who fired the mortar. May 19 Herat Province: one police officer A police officer was shot dead by an unknown gunman in Herat city, the provincial capital, in front of former Herat governor Ismail Khan’s house. The attacker was killed by Mr. Khan’s bodyguards. May 19 Herat Province: one police officer A police officer was gunned down by the Taliban in the center of Obey district. May 18 Logar Province: one police officer killed Unknown gunmen shot and killed a police officer in Pul-e-Alam. May 18 Khost Province: one N.D.S. officer killed A magnetic bomb attached to a N.D.S. vehicle exploded in Zazai Maidan district, killing one N.D.S. officer. May 18 Jowzjan Province: three police officers killed The Taliban attacked the center of Faizabad district. During the fighting, three police officers were killed and four others were wounded, but the Taliban were pushed back from the area. May 18 Kunduz Province: two soldiers killed Two soldiers were killed by the Taliban in Chardara district outside of their military base. May 18 Kunduz Province: two security forces killed The Taliban attacked a police chief’s house in Imam Sahib district, killing one N.D.S. officer and a police officer. Nine security forces were wounded. The Taliban also blew up two bridges in the area. May 18 Herat Province: one civilian killed A mortar hit a civilian house in Obey district, killing a 16-year-old boy. The family claims that the mortar was fired by Afghan security forces, but provincial officials blame the Taliban for the incident. May 18 Baghlan Province: three security forces killed A soldier, a police officer and a pro-government militia member were killed and four others were wounded during clashes with the Taliban in Baghlan-e-Markazi district. During the attack the Afghan security forces bombed a clinic, wounding four health workers. Provincial officials claimed that the clinic provides health care to wounded Taliban fighters. May 18 Ghor Province: two police officers killed Two police officers, including a police commander, were killed in a roadside bomb blast in Firoz Koh. May 18 Nangarhar Province: one police officer killed A police vehicle was hit by a roadside bomb in Jalalabad, the provincial capital, killing one police officer and wounding one other. May 18 Herat Province: one police officer killed A police officer was killed by the Taliban in Koshk-e-Robatsnagi district. The attacker fled the area. May 17 Khost Province: four civilians killed Four civilians including a child were killed by unknown gunmen in Khost city, the provincial capital, while they were on their way back home from a religious ceremony. The government is investigating the incident. May 17 Faryab Province: one police officer killed The Taliban attacked security outposts in Pashton Kot District, killing one police officer. The Taliban were pushed back. May 16 Khost Province: three civilians killed A rocket landed in a residential area in Baraki Barak district, killing three civilians and wounding six others. An investigation is underway into the incident as it is unclear who fired the munition. May 16 Khost Province: five pro-government militia members killed The Taliban attacked a security outpost in Mohammad Agha district. The fighting continued for hours, and during the clash five pro-government militia members were killed. The Taliban were pushed back from the district. May 16 Badghis Province: one police officer killed The Taliban sniper shot and killed a police officer in Moqor district. May 16 Baghlan Province: two police officers killed A mortar fired by the Afghan security forces hit a police headquarters in Dawlat Shah district, killing two police officers, including the district police chief. May 16 Ghazni Province: three civilians killed Three civilians were killed and three others were wounded while a roadside bomb targeted their vehicle in Khwaja Omiri district. May 16 Baghlan Province: a police officer killed A police outpost commander in Baghlan-e-Markazi district was wounded fighting the Taliban and succumbed to his injuries. May 15 Herat Province: one civilian killed A woman was shot to death by the Taliban in Adraskan district because she had allegedly committed adultery. May 15 Kabul Province: one police officer killed A traffic police officer was killed when a bomb targeted his vehicle in Sarobi district. Two civilians were also wounded in the blast. May 14 Balkh Province: two soldiers killed A roadside bomb exploded and killed two soldiers while they were defusing it in Balkh district. May 14 Kapisa Province: one soldier killed The Taliban ambushed an army convoy in Tagab district while they were heading to Mohamoud Raqi city. A soldier was killed and three others were wounded. May 14 Kabul Province: 12 civilians killed A bomb exploded in a mosque in Shakardara District during Friday prayer, killing 12 civilians, including the imam, and wounding 15 others. The Islamic State claimed responsibility for the attack. May 7-13, 2021 At least 107 pro-government forces and 126 civilians were killed in Afghanistan the past week, as attacks continue to worsen around the country while the United States withdraws. On Saturday, a triple bombing targeted a school in a Hazara neighborhood in the 13th Police District of Kabul city, the capital, killing at least 86 civilians and wounding 150 more. Most of the casualties were high school girls. The government blamed the Taliban for the attack, but the group denied responsibility. The Taliban and the government declared a three-day beginning Thursday, May 13, cease-fire to commemorate Eid. [Read the Afghan War Casualty Report from previous weeks.] May 13 Kunduz Province: two civilians killed Two civilians including a child were killed and 14 others were wounded when a bomb exploded in the Fourth Police District of Kunduz city, the provincial capital. May 13 Kandahar Province: Five civilians killed Five civilians, including three children, were killed and four others were wounded when a roadside bomb exploded in Maiwand district. May 12 Nangarhar Province: three civilians killed A civilian vehicle was hit by a roadside bomb in Shirzad district, killing three civilians and wounding three others. May 12 Herat Province: one civilian killed An Islam Qala customs employee was shot dead by unknown gunmen on the border while going to his office. The attackers escaped the scene. May 11 Kunduz Province: five civilians killed A mortar fired by Afghan security forces hit a house in Imam Sahib district, killing five civilians, including two women, and two others were wounded. May 11 Wardak Province: one civilian killed One civilian was killed during clashes between the Taliban and Afghan security forces in Nirkh district. The Afghan security forces surrendered to the Taliban and the district collapsed to the insurgents. May 11 Badghis Province: one police officer killed A police officer was gunned down by Taliban fighters in Ab-Kamari district. May 11 Khost Province: four service forces killed A former Khost Protection Force commander and three others were killed while their vehicle was ambushed by unknown gunmen in Tani district. The attackers fled the area. May 11 Parwan Province: one civilian killed The communication manager of the provincial Hajj and Religious Affairs Ministry was assassinated by unknown gunmen in Salang district. May 11 Kandahar Province: one security force killed Gunmen attacked criminal investigation department employees in Kandahar city, the provincial capital, killing one officer and wounding one another. During the shooting, the attacker was also killed. May 11 Badakhshan Province: six pro-government militia members killed The Taliban attacked a security outpost in Jurm district, killing six pro-government militia members and wounding three others. The fighting went on for three hours and the Taliban overran the outpost. May 11 Takhar Province: one pro-government militia member and one civilian killed A pro-government militia commander and his daughter were killed when the Taliban attacked their house Rustaq district. May 10 Jowzjan Province: two pro-government militia members killed During the Taliban attack on a security outpost in Aqcha district, two pro-government militia members were killed and another one was wounded. May 10 Logar Province: two police officers killed Shapoor Ahmadzai, former spokesman of Logar police, was killed along with a police officer in Pul-e-Alam, the provincial capital, by unknown gunmen. Mr. Ahmadzai served as the head of the First Police District in the city. May 10 Ghor Province: four police officers killed A police officer opened fire and killed four of his colleagues at an outpost in Firoz Koh, the provincial capital. The attacker seized weapons, escaped the scene and joined the Taliban. May 10 Zabul Province: 11 civilians killed A bus was hit by twin bombs in Shahr-e-Safa, killing 11 civilians and wounding 25 others. May 10 Parwan Province: two civilians killed A minivan was hit by a roadside bomb in Jabal Saraj district, killing two civilians and wounding nine others. A second bomb exploded when people gathered to transfer victims. In the blast, five people were wounded. May 9 Paktia Province: one civilian killed A civil society activist was assassinated by unidentified gunmen in Gardez, the provincial capital. No groups took responsibility for the killing. May 9 Herat Province: one police officer killed A police officer was shot dead by the Taliban in Golran district. The shooter managed to flee the area. May 9 Herat Province: one civilian and one militia member killed A civilian and a militia member were killed and five others were wounded during clashes between two militia groups in 13th Police District of Herat city, the provincial capital. May 9 Baghlan Province: one police officer killed The Taliban attacked a security outpost in Baghlan-e-Markazi district, killing a police officer and wounding two others. The Taliban were pushed back from the area. May 9 Farah Province: two soldiers killed Two soldiers were killed and five others were wounded when a car bomb exploded at their checkpoint in Farah city, the provincial capital. May 9 Baghlan Province: six security forces killed Three soldiers and three police officers were killed and 20 others were wounded during a Taliban attack on a police headquarters and government building in Dahana-e-Ghori district. Elite forces were deployed to the district to push back the Taliban, yet the district remains under siege. May 9 Faryab Province: five soldiers killed A Humvee was hit by a roadside bomb in Almar district, killing five soldiers and wounding two others. May 9 Ghazni Province: one police officer killed A police chief’s vehicle was hit by a roadside bomb in Khwaja Omari district, killing the police chief. May 9 Logar Province: four N.D.S. officers killed Four officers with the National Directorate of Security, Afghanistan’s intelligence agency, were killed in Pul-e-Alam when their vehicle was ambushed by the Taliban. May 9 Logar Province: one civilian killed A branch manager of Da Afghanistan Bank was shot dead by the Taliban in Pul-e-Alam while he was at a gas station. May 9 Khost Province: one N.D.S. officer killed An N.D.S. officer was gunned down by armed men in Khost city, the provincial capital. Police arrested a man with a pistol, and his affiliation with any armed groups is under investigation. May 9 Khost Province: one police officer killed A police officer was shot and killed by gunmen on a motorcycle in Ismail Khel district. The perpetrators were arrested by the police. May 9 Herat Province: one soldier killed The Taliban attacked Obeh district center, killing one soldier. May 9 Logar Province: one civilian killed The head of the province’s economy ministry was killed in a Taliban ambush in Pul-e-Alam. May 8 Kabul Province: 90 civilians killed A triple bombing targeted a school in a Hazara neighborhood in the 13th Police District of Kabul city, the capital, killing at least 90 civilians and wounding 240 more. Most of the casualties were high school girls. The government blamed the Taliban for the attack, but the group denied responsibility. May 8 Baghlan Province: six soldiers killed In an insider attack in Pul-i-Khumri, the provincial capital, six soldiers were killed. The attackers seized guns and joined the Taliban. May 8 Logar Province: six pro-government militia members killed A vehicle was hit by a roadside bomb in Mohammad Agha district, killing six pro-government militia members. May 8 Sar-i-Pul Province: three soldiers killed A Humvee was hit by a roadside bomb in Sar-i-Pul city, provincial capital. Three soldiers were killed and three others were wounded. May 8 Wardak Province: 12 soldiers killed A Taliban car bomb targeted a military base in Sayedabad district, killing 12 soldiers and wounding eight others. May 8 Herat Province: Five territorial army soldiers killed The Taliban attacked Pashton Zarghoon district, killing five territorial soldiers and wounding four others. The fighting continued for hours, but no enforcements were sent to the area. May 8 Baghlan Province: one police officer killed A police officer was killed and four others were wounded when the Taliban attacked Nahrin district center. The Taliban were pushed back from the district. May 8 Faryab Province: three security forces killed A Humvee was hit by a roadside bomb in Pashtun Kot district, killing two public protection forces. Meanwhile, one more security force member was killed during an attack by the Taliban in the district. May 8 Samangan Province: three security forces killed During the Taliban’s major offensive attacks on outposts in Dara-e-Suf Bala district, two police officers and a member of the territorial army were killed and four others were wounded. The Taliban were pushed back from the area. May 8 Herat Province: one soldier killed One soldier was killed and four police officers and two soldiers were wounded in clashes between the Taliban and security forces in Obeh district. May 7 Faryab Province: one territorial soldier killed A territorial army member was assassinated in Gorziwan district. The government blamed the Taliban, who did not take responsibility for the killing. May 7 Ghazni Province: 11 soldiers killed The Taliban surrounded a military base and killed 11 soldiers in the Third Police District of Ghazni city, the provincial capital. The soldiers had surrendered to the Taliban hoping to be spared, but the insurgents still killed them. May 7 Takhar Province: one pro-government militia member killed A convoy of pro-government militia members was ambushed by gunmen in Rustaq district. During the clash, a pro-government militia commander was killed. May 7 Baghlan Province: one police officer killed During a firefight with the Taliban in the Second Police District of Pul-i-Khumri city, one police officer was killed. May 7 Baghlan Province: two police officers killed The Taliban attacked Dahana-e-Ghori district center from several directions three times. During the clashes, security forces retreated from four security outposts. Two police officers were killed, three were wounded and two others were taken prisoners. The insurgents were eventually pushed back from the area. May 7 Herat Province: two pro-government militia members killed Two pro-government militia members were killed during an attack by the Taliban on a pro-government militia outpost in Gozara district. May 7 Takhar Province: two pro-government militia members killed Two pro-government militia members were abducted and killed by the Taliban in Khwaja Bahahuddin district. May 7 Faryab Province: two police officers killed The Taliban attacked security outposts in Pashtun Kot district, killing two police officers and wounding two others. April 30-May 6, 2021 At least 140 pro-government forces and 44 civilians were killed in Afghanistan the past week, the highest death toll in a single week since October. The Taliban intensified their attacks all over the country beginning May 1, the former deadline for withdrawal of American troops from Afghanistan, according to the deal signed in February 2020 between the insurgent group and the United States. Some of the worst fighting took place in Baghlan, Farah, Kunduz, Herat, Takhar, Helmand, Ghazni and Badakhshan provinces. The deadliest attack took place in Logar Province, where a truck bomb exploded in front of a guesthouse in which a group of students were preparing for university entrance exams, killing 27 civilians and wounding 107 civilians and three security forces. The explosion was massive, the regional hospital, the guesthouse and many other buildings in the area were damaged. In Badakhshan Province, the Taliban attacked a security outpost in the center of Warduj district, burning down a wooden bridge in the area to block the movements of security forces. Eight members of the territorial army were killed and the Taliban eventually captured the outpost after four hours of fighting. An additional four members of security forces were wounded. Security forces went to extinguish the bridge fire, but they were ambushed, and four territorial army members were killed. May 6 Logar Province: one police officer killed The district police chief of Kharwar district was shot and killed by the Taliban in the Umer Abad area of Pul-e-Alam, the provincial capital, while he was assessing security outposts. May 6 Jowzjan Province: five soldiers killed The Taliban attacked a security outpost in the Jarqoduq area of Qosh Tepa district, killing five soldiers and wounding three others. May 6 Wardak Province: one soldier killed The commander of a support battalion was shot and killed by a Taliban marksman in the Durani Bazaar area of Nerkh district. May 6 Takhar Province: one soldier killed The Taliban attacked the center of Darqad district, killing one soldier and wounding four others. May 6 Helmand Province: two civilians killed A rocket hit a house in Bolan area of Lashkar Gah, the provincial capital, killing two civilians and wounding three others. May 6 Ghor Province: one police officer killed One police officer was shot and killed by unknown gunmen in the village of Jar-e-Kandiwas of Firoz Koh, the provincial capital. May 6 Ghazni Province: six security forces killed The Taliban attacked and captured a security outpost and a military base in the Arzo area of Ghazni city, the provincial capital. Eight soldiers surrendered to the Taliban from one outpost. At another military base, there were 24 soldiers and police officers, but during the clashes, six soldiers were killed, 12 security forces were taken prisoner and six others were wounded. May 6 Kunduz Province: one security force killed The Taliban ambushed security forces as they were patrolling in the Tot Mazar area of Imam Sahib district, killing one pro-government militia member and wounding two others. May 6 Kunduz Province: eight soldiers killed The Taliban attacked a battalion headquarters in the Bagh-e-Shirkat area in the Third Police District of Kunduz city, the provincial capital, killing eight soldiers and wounding two others. Local officials claimed that 13 Taliban fighters were killed in the clashes. May 6 Kunduz Province: one police officer killed The Taliban attacked a security outpost in the First Police District of Kunduz city, killing one police officer. May 6 Kandahar Province: one journalist killed Niamat Rawan, a Finance Ministry employee and former journalist with Tolo News, a national television station, was shot and killed in the 14th Police District of Kandahar city, the provincial capital. May 6 Herat Province: one soldier killed One soldier was killed and two others were wounded in a Taliban attack in the center of Farsi district. May 6 Baghlan Province: one security force killed, 100 others surrendered Six military bases and seven outposts collapsed in Shahr-e-Kohna area of Baghlan-e-Markazi district. Around 100 security forces, including 70 soldiers, surrendered to the Taliban in the area. One pro-government militia member was killed and two others were wounded in the clashes. May 6 Ghazni Province: six security forces killed The Taliban attacked three security outposts in the Noh Borja and Char Borja villages of Khwaja Omari district, killing four police officers and two pro-government militia members. May 6 Faryab Province: three police officers killed The Taliban attacked a security outpost in Pashtun Kot district, killing three police officers, including a father and his son. Two officers were also wounded in the battle. May 5 Ghazni Province: two civilians killed A civilian vehicle was hit by a roadside bomb in the Tormai village of Khwaja Omari district, killing two civilians who were members of the same family. May 5 Logar Province: one security force killed Two members of the National Directorate of Security, Afghanistan’s intelligence agency, came under Taliban attack while they were on patrol in the Joi Yak area of Pul-e-Alam. One member of the directorate was killed and another was wounded. May 5 Takhar Province: eight security forces killed The Taliban attacked a security outpost in the entrance of Taliqan, the provincial capital, killing eight pro-government militia members and taking one prisoner. The Taliban eventually captured the outpost. May 5 Takhar Province: three security forces killed The Taliban attacked the center of Darqad district, killing two commandos and one soldier. Three security forces were also wounded in the attack. May 5 Kabul Province: one civilian killed A bus was hit by a roadside bomb carrying a medical team from Panjshir province in Pul-e-Daryay-e-Kalakan area of Kalakan district, killing one civilian and wounding three others. The Taliban denied any involvement in the incident. May 5 Kabul Province: one police officer killed Mohammad Tahir, a company commander in the security department of Afghan Parliament, was shot and killed in the First Police District of Kabul City, the capital. May 5 Paktika Province: one police officer killed The Taliban attacked security outposts in the Dewana baba area of Sarawza district. When police forces moved in, a district police chief was killed in a roadside bomb explosion and three of his bodyguards were wounded. May 4 Zabul Province: one civilian killed Unknown gunmen on a motorcycle shot and killed one civilian in the center of Qalat, the provincial capital. May 4 Jowzjan Province: four security forces killed The Taliban attacked a security outpost in the Kokaldash village of Faizabad district, killing four pro-government militia members and wounding three others. The Taliban eventually captured the outpost. May 4 Takhar Province: one civilian killed Unknown gunmen shot and killed a tribal elder in the Naw Abad area of Khwaja Bahauddin district. The incident took place in the Taliban-controlled area and the gunmen threw the victim’s body to a river. May 4 Ghazni Province: one civilian killed One civilian was killed and the chief of the provincial justice department was wounded when unknown gunmen opened fire on the chief’s vehicle in Ghazni city. May 4 Uruzgan Province: one police officer killed A magnetic bomb attached to a police vehicle exploded in Tarin Kot, the provincial capital, in a market, killing a police officer and wounding one civilian. May 4 Helmand Province: four soldiers killed The Taliban attacked and captured a military base and a security outpost in Greshk district, killing four soldiers and seizing a large amount of weapons and ammunition. May 4 Kapisa Province: one police officer killed A police officer who was visiting his family was killed by the Taliban in his house in the Second Police District of Mahmood Raqi, the provincial capital. May 4 Baghlan Province: nine soldiers killed The Taliban attacked a company headquarters in the Jar-e-Khoshk area of Baghlan-e-Markazi district, killing nine soldiers. Sixteen soldiers were taken prisoner, and only one of the soldiers was able to escape. The Taliban burned seven Humvees, seized weapons and a large amount of ammunition. May 3 Jowzjan Province: one security force killed A Taliban marksman shot and killed a pro-government militia commander in the center of Murdian district. May 3 Paktia Province: five security forces killed The Taliban attacked security outposts in the Chawni area of Gardez, the provincial capital, killing four pro-government militia members and one police officer. An additional 12 security forces were wounded in the battle. May 3 Helmand Province: four police officers killed The Taliban attacked security outposts between Nawa district and Lashkar Gah, killing four police officers. Police abandoned the posts after the attack. A commando unit in Nawa district managed to drive through Taliban territory due to their armored vehicles and reach Lashkar Gah. May 3 Farah Province: 20 security forces killed The Taliban attacked a military base in the Shiwan area of Balaboluk district, killing 20 soldiers. Insurgents dug a tunnel under the base and then placed explosives, blowing it up. A group of insurgents attacked after the explosion and seized equipment and weapons there. May 3 Baghlan Province: four soldiers killed The Taliban attacked a security outpost in the center of Nahring district, killing four soldiers and taking four other prisoners. The Taliban captured the outpost and seized all weapons and equipment. May 3 Herat Province: eight security forces killed Seven police officers and one soldier were killed and four were wounded in a Taliban attack in the center of the Farsi district. Two car bombs were also used during six hours of fighting by the Taliban. May 3 Kabul Province: three security forces killed A police officer and two N.D.S. officers were assassinated by unknown gunmen in the Shorbazar area of the First Police District of Kabul city. May 3 Helmand Province: 18 security forces killed or wounded At least 18 security outposts were captured by the Taliban around the city of Lashkar Gah, forcing all forces to retreat into the city. An air campaign carried out by Afghan and American Air Force blocked the Taliban’s advances. At least 18 security forces were killed and wounded in the fighting. Officials didn’t provide exact figures of casualties. May 3 Takhar Province: one civilian killed Habibullah, a schoolteacher, was assassinated by unknown gunmen in the Nahr-e-Chaman area of Taliqan. May 3 Takhar Province: a pro-government militia commander killed A bomb planted in the operation center of a pro-government militia commander in the Qala-e-Gord Aab area of Rustaq district exploded, killing Piram Qul Ziyaee, a powerful pro-government militia commander. Two militia members were wounded in the explosion. Mr. Ziyaee was a former member of Afghan parliament member and a former jihadi commander. He was a powerful ally to Ahmad Massoud, the son of the late Northern Alliance commander Ahmad Shah Massoud. The Taliban claimed responsibility for the killing. May 2 Takhar Province: one civilian killed Unknown gunmen assassinated Mohammad Rahim, a tribal elder, in the Quldary village of Khwaja Bahauddin district while he was on his way to the mosque. May 2 Faryab Province: two civilians killed The Taliban killed two construction workers while they were on their way home in the Sarchakan area of Gorziwan district. The reason for their killing was not clear. May 2 Badghis Province: one soldier and one civilian killed One soldier and one civilian were killed and one civilian was wounded by a Taliban marksman in the center of Jawand district. All those killed were part of a group who were working on a development project in the area. May 2 Kabul Province: one soldier killed The deputy of an army company in Bagram prison was assassinated in the Khaldar village of Paghman district. The attack was carried out by the Taliban fighters who managed to flee from the area. May 2 Baghlan Province: three police officers killed The Taliban attacked a security outpost in the Bagh-e-Shamal area of Pul-i-Khumri, the provincial capital, killing three members of a police special forces unit and wounding another in three hours of fighting. The Taliban seized one Humvee and a few weapons and destroyed another Humvee. May 2 Baghlan Province: two police officers and one civilian killed The Taliban stopped a vehicle carrying two police officers and one civilian in the First Police District of Pul-i-Khumri, and killed everyone inside. The insurgent seized two guns and the vehicle and escaped from the area. May 2 Badakhshan Province: 12 security forces killed The Taliban attacked a security outpost in Chakaran area, the district center of Warduj district, burning down a wooden bridge in the area to block the movements of security forces. Eight members of the territorial army were killed in the outpost and the Taliban eventually captured the outpost after four hours of fighting. An additional four security forces were wounded. A group of security forces went to extinguish the bridge fire, but they were ambushed and four were killed. May 2 Herat Province: one soldier killed A border soldier was killed when a magnetic bomb attached to his vehicle exploded in front of the Islam Qala Customs building in Kohsan district. May 1 Kunduz Province: two soldiers killed A roadside bomb hit a Humvee while it was driving to the Nasiriha village of Imam Sahib district, killing a battalion commander and one of his bodyguards, and wounding three others. May 1 Baghlan Province: two security forces killed The Taliban attacked a security outpost in the Second Police District of Pul-i-Khumri, killing a police officer and a pro-government militia member and wounding two others. May 1 Kabul Province: one civilian killed A university processor was shot and killed by known gunmen in the 19th Police District of Kabul City, the capital. An investigation was launched into the incident. April 30 Parwan Province: one soldier killed A bomb planted in a mosque of a military division inside Bagram Air Base exploded during evening prayer, killing one Afghan soldier and wounding 25 others. April 30 Ghazni Province: 25 soldiers surrendered An army base was overrun by the Taliban in the Arzo village of Ghazni city. The insurgents took 25 prisoners and four soldiers were wounded in clashes with the Taliban. The base was surrounded for 15 days, and despite many calls for support, reinforcements never arrived. April 30 Herat Province: one civilian killed One civilian was killed and four others were wounded, when a mortar fired by the Taliban hit a house in the center of Shindand district. April 30 Logar Province: 27 civilians killed A truck bomb exploded in front of a guesthouse in Pul-e Alam, where a group of students were preparing for university entrance exams, killing 27 civilians and wounding 107 civilians and three security forces. The explosion was massive, the regional hospital, the guesthouse and many other buildings in the area were damaged. Reporting was contributed by Fatima Faizi from Kabul, Zabihullah Ghazi from Jalalabad, Farooq Jan Mangal from Khost, Taimoor Shah from Kandahar and Asadullah Timory from Herat. © 2021 The New York Times Company

Burkina Faso’s government said that about 100 people were killed by armed assailants in the north of the country Friday night, in one the deadliest attacks in year. OUAGADOUGOU, Burkina Faso — Armed assailants killed around 100 civilians in an overnight attack on a village in northern Burkina Faso, the government said on Saturday, in one of the deadliest attacks in the Western African nation in years. The attackers struck during the night on Friday, killing residents of a village in the northeastern part of the country, near the border with Niger. They also burned homes and the village market, the government said in a statement. Burkina Faso and its neighbors in the Sahel region have faced a resurgence of extremist violence in recent years, many of them led by jihadists linked to Al Qaeda and the Islamic State. Since France began a military intervention in 2013 to counter jihadist violence in Mali, many member of the remaining groups, including affiliates of Al Qaeda, moved south near the border with Burkina Faso. The first attacks claimed by a jihadist group struck Burkina Faso in 2015, and the country, once one of the most stable nations in West Africa, has since been engulfed in a spiral of violence, facing hundreds of similar attacks, some carried out by jihadist groups and others by local rebels. They have stormed many villages, especially in the region known as Liptako-Gourma, a border area between Mali, Niger and Burkina Faso, where the attack on Friday took place. But soldiers have also killed a growing number of civilians, further stoking the resentment of local populations. The government described the attackers in Friday’s violence as terrorists, but no group has yet claimed responsibility. Rida Lyammouri, an expert on the Sahel who is based in Washington, said a group of gunmen believed to be affiliated with the Islamic State in the Greater Sahara had initially attacked an artisanal gold mine in the area, before they went after civilians. “They burned cars, houses, a local market, and have planted improvised explosive devices,” said Mr. Lyammouri, a senior fellow at the Policy Center for the New South, a Morocco-based think tank. Mr. Lyammouri added that the death toll was likely higher than officials had estimated. “It’s definitely one of the deadliest attacks in Burkina Faso in years,” he said. Roch Kabore, Burkina Faso’s president, declared a 72-hour period of national mourning after the attack. It said the provisional toll put the number of people killed at around 100. The deteriorating security situation has fueled one of the fastest-growing displacement crises in the world, with more than 1.2 million people forced to flee their homes in Burkina Faso, according to the United Nations’ humanitarian affairs body. The country is also hosting some 20,000 refugees from neighboring Mali who are seeking safety from jihadist attacks. In March, attackers killed 137 people in coordinated raids on villages in southwestern Niger. Several foreigners have also been taken hostage or killed in recent years. In 2019, two French soldiers were killed in a raid to rescue four hostages — two Frenchmen, an American and a South Korean citizen. In April, two Spanish journalists and an Irish ranger were also killed in an ambush in southeastern Burkina Faso, near the border with Benin. Elian Peltier contributed reporting. © The New York Times 2021