Amnesty reports on Afghan massacre

The human rights group Amnesty International issued a report on Wednesday into January’s massacre of over 300 men, women and children by Taliban forces in Yakawlang in Afghanistan’s central Bamiyan Province.
The Taliban leader, Mullah Mohammad Omar, has denied that the massacres took place, and banned journalists from visiting the district. According to eyewitness accounts, Taliban forces began to arrest and execute ethnic Hazaras over several days after recapturing the Yakawlang District. Amnesty reported the deliberate killing of dozens of civilians hiding in a mosque. One person said: “Some people in Kata Khana ran to the mosque, thinking the Taliban would respect the sanctity of the mosque, but they were wrong.” They said they saw Taliban soldiers fire rockets at the mosque, where some 73 women, children and elderly men had taken shelter. No one was allowed access to the mosque for three days, and only two young children survived.