Rights group: Taliban unlawfully killed 13 ethnic Hazaras

By SAMYA KULLAB
Associated Press

KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) — A prominent rights group says the Taliban unlawfully killed 13 ethnic Hazaras, most of them Afghan soldiers who had surrendered to the insurgents. A report Tuesday by Amnesty International says the killings took place in late August in central Afghanistan, about two weeks after the Taliban had seized control of the country. The Taliban have sought to reassure Afghans that they had changed from their previous harsh rule in the late 1990s. Meanwhile, Taliban leaders met with Iranian officials in Kabul in an effort to boost trade relations key to filling cash-starved coffers as the country teeters on the brink of economic collapse.