Unprecedented Taliban violence in 2020 carries into 2021: United Nations

The UN experts, who monitor sanctions against the Taliban, predicted more violence in the run-up to their departure.

Taliban insurgents show no sign of reducing the level of violence in Afghanistan to facilitate peace negotiations with the government, and appear to be trying to strengthen their military position as leverage, with the “unprecedented violence” of 2020 carrying into 2021, UN experts said in a new report circulated on Friday. The panel of experts said the Taliban are reported to be responsible for the great majority of assassinations that have become a feature of the violence in Afghanistan, targeting government officials, women, human rights defenders and journalists among others. These attacks “appear to be undertaken with the objective of weakening the capacity of the government and intimidating civil society,” it said.