Exclusive: ICC judges order Taliban case split from Afghanistan probe that covers US troops

Judges at the International Criminal Court (ICC) have ordered prosecutors to open a standalone investigation into allegations of gender persecution by the Taliban, separating it from the court's long-running Afghanistan war crimes probe that covered US nationals, Middle East Eye can reveal. According to court documents obtained by MEE through independent sources, a three-judge panel in pre-trial chamber II issued the request to the Office of the Prosecutor in mid-July. If prosecutors proceed, the Taliban investigation will effectively be split from a broader Afghanistan inquiry looking into alleged war crimes committed since 2003 by Afghan National Security Forces, the US military and CIA personnel, in addition to the Taliban and the Islamic State-Khorasan Province (IS-K) group. The move is likely to raise questions about whether the court is seeking to ease tensions with Washington by signalling that it will no longer pursue allegations against US forces and their allies. Read more: Exclusive: ICC judges order Taliban case split from Afghanistan probe that covers US troops Judge Rosario Salvatore Aitala, vice-president of the ICC and president of pre-trial chamber II (ICC/file photo)