Taliban destroy statue of Shiite foe Abdul Ali Mazari from Nineties civil conflict

The Taliban have blown up the statue of a Shiite militia chief who had fought in opposition to them throughout Afghanistan’s civil conflict within the Nineties, in response to images circulating on social media Wednesday.
The statue depicted Abdul Ali Mazari, a militia chief killed by the Taliban in 1996, when the Islamic militants seized energy from rival warlords. Mazari was a champion of Afghanistan’s ethnic Hazara minority, Shiites who had been persecuted beneath the Sunni Taliban’s earlier rule.

The statue stood within the central Bamyan province, the place the Taliban infamously blew up two large 1,500-year-old statues of Buddha carved right into a mountain in 2001, shortly earlier than the US-led invasion that drove them from energy. The Taliban claimed the Buddhas violated Islam’s prohibition on idolatry.
The Taliban returned to energy final weekend after capturing a lot of the nation in a matter of days, lower than three weeks earlier than the US plans to finish its troop withdrawal.
The Taliban have promised a brand new period of peace and safety, saying they may forgive those that fought in opposition to them and grant ladies full rights beneath Islamic legislation, with out elaborating. But many Afghans are deeply skeptical of the group, particularly those that bear in mind its earlier rule, when it imposed a harsh interpretation of Islamic legislation.
Taliban fighters patrol in Wazir Akbar Khan neighborhood within the metropolis of Kabul, Afghanistan, Wednesday, Aug. 18, 2021. (AP)
At that point, ladies had been largely confined to their houses, tv and music had been banned, and suspected criminals had been flogged, maimed or executed in public.
The group additionally hosted Osama bin Laden and al-Qaida within the years earlier than the September 11, 2001 assaults. The US-led invasion drove them from energy and scattered al-Qaida, however the Taliban then launched a potent insurgency in opposition to the US and the Western-backed authorities.
The Taliban now say they may forestall Afghanistan from once more getting used as a base for assaults, one thing that was enshrined in a 2020 peace cope with the Trump administration that paved the way in which for the American withdrawal.
Thousands of Afghans have tried to flee the nation in current days because the US and its allies have struggled to handle a chaotic withdrawal from the nation. The Taliban took over the civilian facet of the Kabul worldwide airport on Tuesday and have used pressure to attempt to management the crowds.
People exterior the worldwide airport in Kabul, Afghanistan. (Jim Huylebroek/The New York Times)
Hundreds of individuals had been exterior the airport early Wednesday. The Taliban demanded to see paperwork earlier than permitting the uncommon passenger inside. Many of the individuals exterior didn’t seem to have passports, and every time the gate opened even an inch dozens tried to push by means of. The Taliban fired occasional warning photographs to disperse them.
The US Embassy has in the meantime relocated to the navy facet of the airport, the place it’s coordinating the air carry of diplomats, foreigners and Afghans who labored with the Americans and now concern reprisal.
The British authorities mentioned it would welcome as much as 5,000 Afghan refugees this 12 months, and a complete of 20,000 Afghans might be provided a option to settle within the UK within the coming years.
“We owe a debt of gratitude to all those who have worked with us to make Afghanistan a better place over the last 20 years,” Prime Minister Boris Johnson mentioned late Tuesday.
The head of Afghanistan’s Central Bank in the meantime mentioned the nation’s provide of bodily US {dollars} is “close to zero.” Afghanistan has some $9 billion in reserves, Ajmal Ahmady tweeted, however most is held exterior the nation, with some $7 billion held in US Federal Reserve bonds, property and gold.
Ahmady mentioned the nation didn’t obtain a deliberate money cargo amid the Taliban offensive.