Human Rights Watch (HRW) has reported that Taliban officials in several provinces across Afghanistan have forcibly displaced residents, especially the Hazara Shia communities, a claim rejected by the Islamic Emirate.

According to the report, Taliban officials have distributed displaced residents’ lands to their own supporters.

The report says many of these evictions have targeted Hazara Shia communities as well as people associated with the former government.

“The Taliban are forcibly evicting Hazaras and others on the basis of ethnicity or political opinion to reward Taliban supporters,” said Patricia Gossman, associate Asia director at Human Rights Watch. “These evictions, carried out with threats of force and without any legal process, are serious abuses that amount to collective punishment.”

Officials from the Ministry of Interior (MoI) on Saturday called the report baseless and said if HRW has any proof, it should reveal it.

“This is not true. Our request from the media and human rights organizations is that if you find such cases, document them. We will be responsive,” said, Saeed Khosti, spokesman for the Ministry of Interior.

Previously HRW published reports about human rights abuses, but all of them have been rejected by the Islamic Emirate.