A gay man has reportedly been raped and beaten by the Taliban in Afghanistan as the country returns to Islamist rule.
The man, who has not been identified, was said to have been lured out of hiding in the capital Kabul by two Taliban fighters who posed as a friend offering safe passage out of the country. Instead, they attacked and raped the man when he arrived to meet them, leaving him alive but terrified,
It comes after the Taliban was accused of forcibly marrying girls as young as 12 to its fighters as sex slaves, and of carrying out summary executions against anyone suspected of helping western forces during the 20-year war.
The man’s fate was revealed by Artemis Akbary, an Afghan rights activist now living in Turkey, who told ITV News that he had been in touch with the man.
He said the attack is just an early example of what life will be like for gay people under Taliban rule, as the final US troops left the country.
‘They are trying to tell the world “we are changed and we don’t have problems with women’s rights or human rights”,’ Akbary said.
‘They are lying. The Taliban hasn’t changed, because their ideology hasn’t changed.’
‘My friends in Afghanistan are scared, they don’t know what will happen to them in the future so they’re just trying to hide.’
