By RFE/RL’s Radio Free Afghanistan March 21, 2019 Multiple explosions on March 21 killed at least six people and wounded 23 near a Shi’ite shrine in Kabul, Afghan officials said. The Islamic State (IS) militant group claimed responsibility for the attack. Two children were among the wounded in the blasts, Kabul’s Emergency Services director Muhammad
Al Jazeera: Comprising 15 percent of the population, the mostly Shia Muslim ethnic minority has long suffered targeted killings – The Hazara have long suffered oppression and persecution in Afghanistan. They are now often targeted by groups swearing allegiance to ISIL. In the 1990s, thousands were killed by al-Qaeda and Taliban fighters. The Taliban declared them as “non-Muslims” during their rule from 1996
RFE/RL’s Radio Free Afghanistan November 12, 2018 Dozens of people have been killed in violence across Afghanistan, including in a suicide bombing in Kabul targeting a protest by members of the mainly Shi’ite Hazara minority, officials say. The Islamic State (IS) militant group claimed responsibility for the suicide blast on November 12 that killed at
Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty November 11, 2018 Afghan officials say 15 civilians and 10 elite force members have been killed in Ghazni Province, as a days-long battle continued November 11. Fighting in Jaghori district — an area inhabited mainly by Shi’ite ethnic Hazaras — erupted on November 7 when Taliban militants attacked the district. The
RFE/RL’s Radio Free Afghanistan October 19, 2018 Parliamentary elections in the southern Afghan province of Kandahar, due to be held on October 20, will be delayed by one week following the assassination of the powerful provincial police commander, Haroon Chakhansori, a spokesman for Afghan President Ashraf Ghani, has tweeted on his official account. “In accordance
Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty September 20, 2018 Members of the Shi’ite minorities in Afghanistan and Pakistan have commemorated Ashura, the holiest celebration in their religious calendar, amid heightened security measures against possible sectarian attacks. The festival making the seventh-century killing of Imam Hussein, a grandson of the Prophet Muhammad, this year fell on September 20.
RFE/RL’s Radio Free Afghanistan September 19, 2018 KABUL — Members of Afghanistan’s Shi’ite minority are bracing for potential violence as they prepare to commemorate Ashura, the holiest celebration in their religious calendar. A series of deadly attacks on the country’s Shi’ite community in recent weeks has fueled fears of more violence during the September 20
VOA News | September 18, 2018: In the face of growing threats posed by Islamic State, the Afghan government has taken extra precautions to protect Shi’ite religious minorities and their neighborhoods in the capital, Kabul. The government is relying on hundreds of civilians it armed last year to protect Shi’ite mosques in the city, as Muslims observe
RFE/RL’s Radio Free Afghanistan September 18, 2018 Afghanistan’s main intelligence agency says its officers have arrested at least 26 suspected members of the extremist group Islamic State (IS), accusing them of plotting attacks on members of the Shi’ite minority. The militants, including an alleged IS leader, were detained in separate operations in Kabul, the National
Ayaz Gul VOA News September 6, 2018 ISLAMABAD — Afghanistan mourned Thursday the death of at least 26 civilians, including sportsmen, rescue workers and journalists, in an overnight double suicide bombing in Kabul. Islamic State, via its so-called Amaq News Agency, claimed responsibility for the attack. The violence occurred Wednesday night in the western Dashti-i-Barchi suburb