The United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA) has issued its quarterly human rights update, revealing that at least 17 former military personnel and officials from the previous Afghan government were killed between July and September 2025.
A detailed review of the documentation indicates that despite repeated official pledges regarding a general amnesty, extrajudicial targeted killings, enforced disappearances, and arbitrary detentions of former Afghan National Defense and Security Forces (ANDSF) members persist across multiple provinces.
Pattern of Extrajudicial Reprisals
The UNAMA report underscores that former security personnel—particularly those previously serving in specialized intelligence, command, and special forces units—remain at severe risk of targeted reprisals:
- Arbitrary Arrests and Incommunicado Detention: Alongside extrajudicial executions, UNAMA recorded numerous arbitrary arrests and detentions targeting former military officers. In many cases, detainees were held without formal charges, legal representation, or family access.
- Systemic Failure of the General Amnesty: Despite formal assurances issued by de facto leadership guaranteeing safety for former officials, field investigations show that local security units, intelligence officers, and provincial commanders continue to execute targeted raids and night operations against former personnel.
- Lack of Accountability and Investigation: UNAMA noted an ongoing absence of independent judicial oversight or transparent investigations into extrajudicial deaths, perpetuating an environment of impunity for perpetrators within the de facto security apparatus.
Broader Human Rights Deterioration
The findings regarding former military personnel form part of a broader monitoring framework documenting systemic civil liberties violations across Afghanistan. Rights organizations and human rights monitors emphasize that the continuous targeting of former personnel violates fundamental international humanitarian law standards, deepens social fragmentation, and forces hundreds of former officers and their families into hiding or perilous irregular migration routes.