Fears of Afghan sectarian war rises after Taliban attacks

THE TALIBAN have infiltrated a strategic district in southeastern Afghanistan and fought with members of the Shiite Hazara minority, officials said yesterday, a week after militants and a Shiite militia clashed in a central province.

Insurgents raided the Jaghori district in Ghazni province on Wednesday, aiming to regain control of a Shiite-dominated region that allows women to move freely and encourages higher female participation in government. The attacks on Jaghori by the Taliban have heightened fears of a new surge of sectarian violence in Afghanistan.

Most Hazaras belong to the Shiite branch of Islam. The Taliban have been accused of committing human rights violations against the group during their oppressive 19962001 rule. Abdul Qayum Sajjadi, a lawmaker in Ghazni province, said President Ashraf Ghani’s Western-backed government was negligent. “I repeatedly urged the central government to send backup forces to Jaghori, but security departments were slow in sending reinforcements. The residents are forced to fight the battle,” he said yesterday, as reported by Reuters. The flare up in fighting in Afghanistan’s restive southeast comes as the resurgent Taliban ratchet up attacks against Afghan security forces, which are suffering record-high casualties. The fighting marks the end of a deal made between Jaghori’s village elders and the Taliban made a decade ago. Under the agreement, the Taliban allowed girls to attend schools and colleges, and women to drive vehicles in the district. In return, the local militias did not oppose the limited Taliban control in the district.