Despite mistrust, Afghan Shiites seek Taliban protection

KABUL, Afghanistan — Outside a Shiite shrine successful Kabul, 4 equipped Taliban fighters stood defender arsenic worshippers filed successful for Friday prayers. Alongside them was a defender from Afghanistan’s chiefly Shiite Hazara minority, an automatic firearm slung implicit his shoulder.

It was a motion of the strange, caller narration brought by the Taliban’s takeover of Afghanistan successful August. The Taliban, Sunni hard-liners who for decades targeted the Hazaras arsenic heretics, are present their lone extortion against a much brutal enemy: the Islamic State group.

Sohrab, the Hazara defender astatine the Abul Fazl al-Abbas Shrine, told The Associated Press that helium gets on good with the Taliban guards. “They adjacent commune successful the mosque sometimes,” helium said, giving lone his archetypal sanction for information reasons.

Not everyone feels truthful comfortable.

Syed Aqil, a Hazara visiting the shrine with his woman and 8-month-old daughter, was disturbed that galore Taliban inactive deterioration their accepted garb — the look of a jihadi insurgent — alternatively than a constabulary uniform.

“We can’t adjacent archer if they are Taliban oregon Daesh,” helium said, utilizing the Arabic acronym for the Islamic State group.

Since seizing power, the Taliban person presented themselves arsenic much moderate, compared with their archetypal regularisation successful the 1990s erstwhile they violently repressed the Hazaras and different taste groups. Courting planetary recognition, they vow to support the Hazaras arsenic a amusement of their acceptance of the country’s minorities.

But galore Hazaras inactive profoundly distrust the insurgents-turned-rulers, who are overwhelmingly taste Pashtu, and are convinced they volition ne'er judge them arsenic equals successful Afghanistan. Hazara assemblage leaders accidental they person met repeatedly with Taliban leadership, asking to instrumentality portion successful the government, lone to beryllium shunned. Hazaras kick idiosyncratic fighters discriminate against them and fearfulness it’s lone a substance of clip earlier the Taliban revert to repression.

“In examination to their erstwhile rule, the Taliban are a small better,” said Mohammed Jawad Gawhari, a Hazara cleric who runs an enactment helping the poor.

“The occupation is that determination is not a azygous law. Every idiosyncratic Talib is their ain instrumentality close now,” helium said. “So radical unrecorded successful fearfulness of them.”

Some changes from the erstwhile epoch of Taliban regularisation are clear. After their takeover, the Taliban allowed Shiites to execute their spiritual ceremonies, including the yearly Ashura procession.

The Taliban initially confiscated weapons that Hazaras had utilized to defender immoderate of their ain mosques successful Kabul. But aft devastating IS bombings of Shiite mosques successful Kandahar and Kunduz provinces successful October, the Taliban returned the weapons successful astir cases, Gawhari and different assemblage leaders said. The Taliban besides supply their ain fighters arsenic guards for immoderate mosques during Friday prayers.

“We are providing a harmless and unafraid situation for everyone, particularly the Hazaras,” said Taliban authorities spokesperson Zabihullah Mujahid. “They should beryllium successful Afghanistan. Leaving the state is not bully for anyone.”

The Hazaras’ crook to Taliban extortion shows however terrified the assemblage is of the Islamic State group, which they accidental aims to exterminate them. In past years, IS has attacked the Hazaras much ruthlessly than the Taliban ever did, unleashing bombings against Hazara schools, hospitals and mosques, sidesplitting hundreds.

IS is besides the Taliban’s enemy, often attacking Taliban forces.

In Dashti Barchi, the sprawling territory of westbound Kabul dominated by Hazaras, galore were skeptical the Taliban volition ever change.

Marzieh Mohammedi, whose hubby was killed 5 years agone successful warring with the Taliban, said she’s acrophobic each clip she sees them patrolling.

“How tin they support us? We can’t spot them. We consciousness similar they are Daesh,” she said.

The differences are partially religious. But Hazaras, who marque up an estimated 10% of Afghanistan’s colonisation of astir 40 million, are besides ethnically chiseled and talk a variant of Farsi alternatively than Pashtu. They person a agelong past of being oppressed by the Pashtu majority, immoderate of whom stereotype them arsenic intruders.

Aqil said that erstwhile helium tried to spell to a constabulary presumption for a document, the Taliban defender lone spoke Pashtu and impatiently slammed the gates successful his face. He had to travel backmost aboriginal with a Pashtu-speaking colleague.

“This benignant of concern makes maine suffer anticipation successful the future,” helium said. “They don’t cognize us. They are not broadminded to judge different communities. They enactment arsenic if they are the owners of this country.”

Frictions successful the Hazaras’ cardinal Afghanistan heartland person raised concerns. In Daikundi province, Taliban fighters killed 11 Hazara soldiers and 2 civilians, including a teenage girl, successful August, according to Amnesty International. Taliban officials besides expelled Hazara families from respective Daikundi villages aft accusing them of surviving connected onshore that didn’t beryllium to them.

After an uproar from Hazaras, further expulsions were halted, Gawhari and different assemblage leaders said.

The planetary assemblage is pressing the Taliban to signifier a authorities that reflects Afghanistan’s ethnic, spiritual and governmental spectrum, including women. The Taliban’s Cabinet is comprised wholly of men from their ain ranks.

The highest level Hazara successful the medication is simply a lawman wellness minister. A fewer Hazaras clasp provincial posts, but they agelong agone joined the Taliban insurgency and adopted their hard-line ideology. Few successful the Hazara assemblage admit them.

Ali Akbar Jamshidi, a erstwhile parliament subordinate from Daikundi province, said the Hazara privation to beryllium brought into the Cabinet and quality and information agencies.

“The Taliban tin payment from us,” helium said. “They person the accidental to signifier a authorities for the future, but they are not taking this opportunity.”

Abdul Qahhar Afghan contributed.