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KABUL: Taliban insurgents have killed 28 government forces in the south after the besieged forces surrendered, officials said.
Zelagay Ebadi, governor spokesman for Uruzgan province, where the incident happened, said Friday that the militants killed soldiers in the Gizab district.
Killing of prisoners of war is considered war crime, according to the Geneva Convention and human rights statements.
“These soldiers were besieged by Taliban. The Taliban asked them to surrender and assured to send them unhurt to their hometowns. But unfortunately, they proved their grim intentions by killing the soldiers who had surrendered,” Ebadi said, adding that the insurgents handed the bodies of the soldiers to the tribal elders who had mediated.
Taliban say the soldiers were killed in the battlefield.
“28 national and local police soldiers were killed during fire exchange in the Gizab district and the allegation of killing them after surrendering is wrong,” Zabihullah Mujahid, a spokesman of the insurgent group said.
The Gizab district has been in Taliban besiege for two weeks.
The incident comes as Taliban and government-appointed negotiating delegations are busy in peace talks in Qatar for two weeks.
President Ashraf Ghani agreed to release 5,000 Taliban prisoners as a goodwill gesture to persuade the militants to peace negotiations.
Unconfirmed reports say that some of the released insurgents have taken arms and are back to battlefields to fight against government forces.
Taliban rejected requests for reduction in violence during the negotiations.
