Dark days return as Taliban again blow up a statue

KABUL: The Taliban have blown up the statue of a Shia militia leader who had fought against them during Afghanistan’s civil war in the 1990s, according to photos circulating on social media on Wednesday.

The statue in Bamiyan city depicted Abdul Ali Mazari, a militia leader killed by the Taliban in 1996, when the Islamic militants seized power from rival warlords. Mazari was a champion of Afghanistan’s ethnic Hazara minority, Shias who were persecuted under the Sunni Taliban’s earlier rule.

The statue stood in the capital city of the Bamiyan province, where the Taliban infamously blew up two massive 1,500-yearold statues of Buddha carved into a mountain in 2001, shortly before the United States-led invasion that drove them from power.

The Taliban claimed the Buddhas violated Islam’s prohibition on idolatry.

The Taliban returned to power last weekend after capturing much of the country in a matter of days, less than three weeks before the US plans to complete its troop withdrawal.

The Taliban have promised a new era of peace and security, saying they will forgive those who fought against them and grant women full rights under Islamic law, without elaborating. But many Afghans are deeply sceptical of the group, especially those who remember its previous rule, when it imposed a harsh interpretation of Islamic law.

At that time, women were largely confined to their homes, television and music were banned, and suspected criminals were flogged or executed in public. The group also hosted Osama bin Laden and Al-qaeda in the years before the September 11, 2001 attacks.

READ: Calls grow louder for protection of women’s rights