August 8th (17th of Asad in the Afghan calendar) is a dark day in the calendar of justice and humanity, and an indelible mark of one of the most horrific crimes against humanity in the modern history of Afghanistan. On this day, the city of Mazar-e-Sharif witnessed a coordinated and brutal assault by the tyrannical Taliban group—a campaign that did not stop quickly but continued with unprecedented cruelty for three consecutive days.
During this merciless massacre, between 8,000 to 12,000 defenseless residents of the city—including women, children, and the elderly—were systematically slaughtered. These figures have been documented and recorded by credible international organizations and human rights bodies. The bodies of the victims were scattered in streets, mosques, schools, and even hospitals. The people of the city were consumed by the flames of a clear act of genocide.
At the same time as this human tragedy, eight Iranian diplomats and one journalist—who were present in the Consulate of the Islamic Republic of Iran in Mazar-e-Sharif on an official mission—were brutally murdered in stark violation of all accepted principles of international law. This heinous crime was a blatant violation of diplomatic immunity and a clear indication of the moral collapse under the shadow of religious and ethnic extremism.
The High Council of National Resistance for the Salvation of Afghanistan, while honoring the pure souls of all the martyrs and expressing deep sympathy with the grieving families of these simultaneous tragedies, emphasizes the historical and legal responsibility of the international community to document these crimes, identify the perpetrators, and ensure justice for the victims.
We call upon international organizations, competent judicial bodies, and the awakened conscience of the world to hear the voices of these silenced victims and not allow history to repeat itself through the forgetting of such crimes.
The memory of the martyrs of August 8th will never be erased from the pages of history. Those spilled bloods still cry out for justice.