Afghanistan: the Hazaras, a persecuted minority in the face of the resurgence of attacks

2022-05-03T08:41:28.548Z

Afghanistan has seen an upsurge in attacks in recent weeks. The Hazara minority is particularly targeted by the Islamic State group. In West Kabul, home to a large…

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Afghanistan: the Hazaras, a persecuted minority in the face of the resurgence of attacks

Muslim worshipers pray at the Aba-Saleh-Almahdi mosque in the Dasht-e-Barchi district of Kabul on October 1, 2021. AFP - HOSHANG HASHIMI

Text by: RFI Follow

2 mins

Afghanistan has seen an upsurge in attacks in recent weeks.

The Hazara minority is particularly targeted by the Islamic State group.

In western Kabul, where the vast majority of Hazaras live, fear has taken hold.

With our correspondent in Kabul,

Sonia Ghezali

While violence has fallen sharply in the past eight months after the Taliban took power in Afghanistan, attacks against the new security forces and

against the Shia Hazara minority

have increased.

This population is considered heretical by the Afghan branch of the Islamic State group, which has claimed responsibility

for several recent attacks targeting Shiite or Sufi mosques

, but also schools.

In Dasht-e-Barchi, a Hazara district of Kabul, habits have changed for many residents.

Zahra Sadat, a former entrepreneur, was directly affected by

the attack on

Abdul Rahim Shaheed Boys' School on 19 April.

“

My uncle teaches there.
He was injured that day.
Since then, my nephews no longer want to go to school

, she says.

One of them, who is in 6th grade, refuses to return to college.
When we try to push him, he tells us: "What's the point, there will be an explosion at some point, everything will end like this here."

“
We are scared all the time
”

Without income since the arrival of the Taliban, Zahra borrows the cheapest transport in the city, minibuses, the cost of which is ten Afghanis, or 10 euro cents.

One of them was targeted four days ago in his neighborhood.

“

One of my colleagues was injured in the explosion, another disappeared completely, they could not find a single piece of her body.
These days, we are afraid to go out, we are afraid every moment

, ”she testifies.

This latest attack was claimed by the Islamic State group.

But the threats don't just come from this terrorist group, says Zahra, who confides that her life has changed.

Afghanistan: the Hazaras, a persecuted minority in the face of the resurgence of attacks

Afghanistan: the Hazaras, a persecuted minority in the face of the resurgence of attacks

“
We are scared all the time
”

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Afghanistan: the Hazaras, a persecuted minority in the face of the resurgence of attacks

Afghanistan: the Hazaras, a persecuted minority in the face of the resurgence of attacks

“ We are scared all the time ”

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“
We are scared all the time
”