Afghans File 1.7 Million War Crimes Complaints Against US-led Coalition, Taliban

The International Criminal Court (ICC) has collected over a million of statements of alleged war crimes from Afghan citizens in a span of three months.

According to Human Rights and Eradication of Violence organization, the ICC had received 1.7 million statements since it began collecting material three months ago, Khaleej Times reports.

The statements include accounts of alleged atrocities not only from Taliban and the Daesh group, but also from the Afghan security forces and government-led warlords and the US coalition, foreign and domestic spy agencies, said Abdul Wadood Pedram from HREVO.

Pedram of the organization said each of the 1.7 million statements included multiple victims, meaning that the actual number of the individuals seeking justice could be several millions.

 “It shows how the justice system in Afghanistan is not bringing justice for the victims and their families,” Pedram said.

In November last year, ICC chief prosecutor called for a formal investigation into war crimes in Afghanistan.

The United States invaded Afghanistan in October 2001 after the September 11 attacks on New York and Washington. That invasion overthrew a Taliban regime in power at the time. But US forces have remained bogged down there through the presidencies of George W. Bush, Barack Obama, and incumbent Donald Trump.

Recently, the US military officially acknowledged that there are some 2,600 more troops in the war-torn country than the 8,400 previously reported.