A week after the United States killed Ayman al-Zawahiri in the Sherpur district, the al-Qaeda leader has become a forgotten ghost in the Afghan capital, where the red-and-black religious flags of the Shia minority outshine the white flags of the emirate. You must move away from Sherpur, where the press is still poorly received by the Taliban, and head west to reach the stronghold of the Shiites, the sect to which the Hazara ethnic group belongs. Ashura is commemorated here amid tight security measures as, according to the United Nations, “about 120 people have been killed and injured in the bombings that have taken place in recent days.”
The jihadist group Islamic State (IS), an enemy of the Taliban, has claimed responsibility for the attacks, which took place at mosques such as the Imam Baker Mosque in Sareh Kariz, where the emirate’s security forces are currently blocking all access. Photos of some of the fallen are posted on the doors of a small temple, but filming and talking to neighbors is prohibited. A cordon of bearded men with AK-47s in their hands monitors the flow of believers and searches everyone passing by one by one.
Ashura commemorates the martyrdom of Husayn, the grandson of Muhammad, 1330 years ago, which widened the rift in the Muslim world that opened after the death of the Prophet and marked the final division between the Shiites, followers of the Prophet’s family, and the Sunnis, who elected caliphs. A split that in recent Afghan history has been marked by sectarian violence by the Taliban and ISIS against this minority, which in recent days has once again been beaten up on the streets of the capital. In places like Baghdad, on Ashura, believers beat themselves on the head with swords and knives until they bled, remembering Hussein’s martyrdom. There are none in Kabul, but on the streets of these Shiite quarters near the palace of Darul Aman, the bloody footprints of those killed during the explosions still lie.
Tensions in the face of escalating sectarian attacks have led Islamist authorities to suspend mobile communications, citing “security concerns.” The blackout left Kabul without contact with the outside world this Monday morning, and voices critical of the Islamists, such as that of poet and women’s rights activist Hoda Khamosh, warn that “The Taliban are trying to disconnect people from the world, they are looking for cover for their oppression.” . Crimes cannot be hidden by disconnecting people from the world.” Khamosh fears the blackout will last until August 15, which marks a year since the Taliban returned to power and “they know people are tired.”
Kabul International Airport retained Hamid Karzai’s name in large blue letters, although the former president dropped the “d” and retained the name “Hami” after a year when the Taliban ruled the country. Given the refusal of international companies to resume flights to the Afghan capital, it is the two national airlines, Ariana and Kam Air, who are making every effort to keep this entrance and exit open. A door that only privileged Afghans who have a passport with a visa can afford to open, or the 350 euros it costs to travel to Dubai, or the 500 euros if they want to fly to Istanbul. The state of the country in ruins, where getting something to eat has become a daily priority for millions of people. Impossible to make plans.
“It’s hard for me to find anything positive in my life over the past year. I could say security, but we already see what is happening in Kabul. If there are fewer incidents in the rest of the country, it is because those who provoked them are now in power, and only for this reason, ”Mohamed (not his real name) muses aloud, surprised by the return of the Taliban when he served as a soldier in the then Afghan National Army for the third year ( ANA). In recent months, he received calls from the Ministry of Defense, but “soon they sent him home, because they trust only their own,” lamented this 29-year-old former military man, who hardly leaves his house for days on end.
Mohamed, like thousands of other Afghans, was trained to resist the Taliban and defend places like Sherpur or Shiite neighborhoods that have been targets of Islamist attacks for two decades. Al-Zawahiri joins the list of those killed in Sherpur, an area frequented by expatriates, where in 2014 more than 20 people were killed in an attack on a Lebanese restaurant, and in 2017 more than 150 people were killed in a truck bomb at the door. German legation, actions with the seal of the Haqqani network, a faction in which Osama bin Laden’s successor was a guest. Over the past twelve months, the Taliban have gone from enforcers to defenders, now hiding behind walls that have been erected to prevent their own attacks and car bombs. This new role is starting to overwhelm them, as exemplified by al-Zawahiri and the repeated attacks by IS on the Hazaras.
Source: El Correo
Ashley Fitzgerald is an accomplished journalist in the field of technology. She currently works as a writer at 24 news breaker. With a deep understanding of the latest technology developments, Ashley’s writing provides readers with insightful analysis and unique perspectives on the industry.