Afghanistan’s war victims continue to live with physical, psychological, and economic harm, with justice, assistance, and acknowledgement still largely out of reach.
The remnants of decades of conflict are visible across almost every aspect of life in Afghanistan: in weakened institutions, damaged infrastructure, displacement, poverty, and a struggling economy. The gravest legacy, however, is carried by those who lost relatives, suffered permanent injuries, lost homes or livelihoods, or still do not know what happened to family members who disappeared.
Since the Taliban returned to power in August 2021, discussion about Afghanistan has centred on recognition, sanctions, aid, security, and the conduct of the new authorities. Little attention has been paid to those still living with the consequences of violence committed under successive governments and by multiple parties to the conflict.
A new report by the UN Assistance Mission in Afghanistan, Left Behind: The Rights of Victims in the Aftermath of Decades of Armed Conflict in Afghanistan, returns attention to them. Between January 2009 and Aug 15, 2021, UNAMA documented more than 40,000 civilian deaths and over 77,000 injuries. Its latest report examines what followed those incidents and whether victims received compensation, medical support, information, acknowledgement, or access to justice.
UNAMA interviewed 195 victims and relatives of victims. Of those interviewed, 95pc reported emotional or psychological harm, 84pc financial losses, and 58pc physical harm. Financial compensation was their most commonly identified priority, followed by access to justice and measures to prevent further violations.
Some 55pc had never attempted to seek redress. Among those who did, 64pc said their efforts were unsuccessful. Fear, lack of information, bureaucratic obstacles, and little confidence in the available institutions prevented many from pursuing their claims.
The emphasis on compensation reflects the economic consequences of civilian deaths and injuries. Families lost earners, accumulated medical expenses, sold property, withdrew children from school, or assigned relatives to full-time care work. Some continue to repay debts incurred for treatment years ago. Compensation addresses part of this damage. Access to truth and accountability remains another part.
Women face a particular disadvantage. Many widows lost the principal source of household income during the conflict. Restrictions imposed since 2021 on women’s employment, education, travel, and public participation have further reduced their ability to support themselves and their families.
A victims’ programme will have little value for women who cannot approach an office, submit a claim, receive a payment, or pursue employment without restrictions. Their access to redress is closely connected to their wider rights.
Victims’ rights extend beyond criminal justice. A meaningful response must cover healthcare, rehabilitation, disability assistance, livelihoods, education, compensation, and information about missing relatives. Much of this work can begin before agreement is reached on a comprehensive transitional justice process.
Afghanistan has attempted to confront past abuses before. In the mid-2000s, the Afghanistan Independent Human Rights Commission conducted nationwide consultations on violations committed during earlier phases of the conflict. A government action plan later called for acknowledgement, truth-seeking, institutional reform, and accountability. It was never fully implemented.
The 2020 Doha Agreement followed a similar pattern. Despite shaping Afghanistan’s political future and the withdrawal of foreign forces, it gave no specific place to victims’ rights, justice, or accountability. Ending the fighting and securing an agreement took precedence over dealing with the consequences for civilians.
Victims’ claims had no formal place in the negotiations. When the political process ended, no mechanism was ready to receive complaints, trace missing relatives, or examine demands for compensation.
Afghanistan’s conflict involved the Taliban, former government forces, pro-government armed groups, ISKP and other militant organizations, and international military forces. Establishing responsibility for every death, injury, and disappearance will be a long and contested process. Records are incomplete, institutions have disappeared, and the parties involved continue to dispute one another’s accounts.
As painful as this may sound, Afghanistan may never arrive at a single account of the war that every party accepts. Efforts to establish legal responsibility can continue where evidence exists. They should proceed separately from the provision of basic assistance to victims.
The question of who can act today is easier to answer. The Taliban authorities control Afghanistan’s institutions, while countries previously involved in the conflict still possess records, resources, and legal authority over their personnel. They can provide medical care, compensation, disability support, and information about missing relatives without waiting for every dispute over responsibility to be settled.
Victims’ stories also need to be heard and preserved. Casualty figures record the number of people killed or injured. They reveal little about the years of debt, disability, interrupted education, lost income, and family responsibility that follow an attack. Recording these experiences would give victims a place in Afghanistan’s history and help explain the full cost of the conflict.
Another prolonged contest over which party bears greater blame risks drawing victims back into the same political divisions that ignored them for years. The immediate responsibility is clear: address their needs, hear their claims, preserve their stories, and acknowledge what they have endured.
Afghanistan should make governments, armed groups, and those who discuss war from a distance think a thousand times before presenting armed conflict as a solution. Wars are usually discussed through the language of military necessity, strategic interests, security, or political change. Those affected by wars experience them through death, injury, displacement, debt, and years spent searching for answers.
The people interviewed by UNAMA are living testimony to those consequences. So is Afghanistan itself. Before political or military leaders speak of another armed solution for the country, they should look at the people still waiting for help since the last one.
