The Taliban have blown up a statue of a Shia militia chief who fought towards them throughout Afghanistan’s civil struggle within the Nineties, based on images circulated on social media on Wednesday.
The statue depicts Abdul Ali Mazari, a militia chief killed by the Taliban in 1996, when Islamic militants seized energy from rival warlords. Mazari was a champion of Shia, Afghanistan’s ethnic Hazara minority, who had been persecuted below the sooner rule of the Sunni Taliban.
The statue stood in central Bamiyan province, the place the Taliban blew up two colossal 1,500-year-old Buddha statues carved right into a mountain in 2001, shortly earlier than a US-led invasion that toppled them from energy. The Taliban claimed that the Buddha violated Islam’s prohibition on idolatry.
The Taliban returned to energy on the finish of final week, capturing a lot of the nation in a matter of days, lower than the three weeks the US plans to finish its troop withdrawal.
The Taliban have promised a brand new period of peace and safety, saying they’ll pardon those that fought towards them and grant ladies full rights below Islamic regulation, with out elaboration. But many Afghans are deeply skeptical of the group, particularly those that keep in mind its earlier rule, when it had harshly interpreted Islamic regulation.
Taliban fighters patrol the neighborhood of Wazir Akbar Khan within the metropolis of Kabul, Afghanistan, Wednesday, August 18, 2021. (AP)
At the time, ladies had been largely confined to their properties, tv and music had been banned, and suspected criminals had been flogged, maimed, or publicly executed.
The group additionally hosted Osama bin Laden and al-Qaeda within the years previous to the September 11, 2001 assaults. The US-led invasion ousted them from energy and dispersed al-Qaeda, however the Taliban then launched a robust insurgency towards the US and Western-backed authorities.
The Taliban now say they’ll forestall Afghanistan from getting used as a base for assaults once more, one thing that was enshrined in a 2020 peace take care of the Trump administration that paved the best way for a US withdrawal.
Thousands of Afghans have tried to flee the nation in current days because the US and its allies wrestle to handle a chaotic withdrawal from the nation. The Taliban took management of the civilian facet of Kabul International Airport on Tuesday and used pressure to manage the group.
People outdoors the worldwide airport in Kabul, Afghanistan. (Jim Hulebrock / The New York Times)
Hundreds of individuals had been outdoors the airport early Wednesday. The Taliban demanded to see the paperwork earlier than permitting the uncommon traveler inside. Many folks outdoors didn’t have passports, and each time the gate opened, dozens tried to push by an inch. The Taliban fired warning shells now and again to disperse them.
The US embassy has in the meantime moved to the navy facet of the airport, the place it’s coordinating the airlift of diplomats, foreigners and Afghans who labored with the Americans and now concern retaliation.
The British authorities stated it could welcome 5,000 Afghan refugees this yr and a complete of 20,000 Afghans could be allowed to settle in Britain within the coming years.
“We express our gratitude to all those who have worked with us over the past 20 years to make Afghanistan a better place,” Prime Minister Boris Johnson stated late Tuesday.
Meanwhile, the top of Afghanistan’s central financial institution stated the nation’s bodily US greenback provide is “near zero”. Ajmal Ahmadi tweeted, “Afghanistan has about $9 billion in reserves, but most is held outside the country, with US Federal Reserve investing around $7 billion in bonds, assets and gold.”
Ahmadi stated the nation didn’t obtain the deliberate money cargo amid the Taliban assault.
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With inputs from TheIndianEXPRESS
