Hazara Massacre By Taliban Possible in Balkhab, Warns World Hazara Council

The World Hazara Council in a statement on June 24 expressed concerns about the possibility of a "massacre of Hazaras by the Taliban" in Balkhab district following the group’s attack there.

The World Hazara Council added that the Taliban intended to enter Balkhab to target Hazara mosques, hospitals, and crowded areas as they began their operations in the district since June 23 to suppress Mawlawi Mahdi, their only Hazara commander.

The World Hazara Council has stressed that the continuing violence in the district has had catastrophic consequences for civilians and residents in the area. "The council fears that as violence and tensions escalate, a genocide by the Taliban looms large for the Hazara community in Balkhab," the statement read.

The council called on the international community to pay attention to the Taliban attack and the possibility of violence by the group against civilians in the area. The World Hazara Council has called for an immediate end to the Taliban attacks on civilians in Balkhab.

The Taliban had committed the "massacre of Hazara civilians" in Mazar-e-Sharif in 1998, in serious violation of international humanitarian law, the council added.

Over the past few days, the Taliban sent thousands of troops from Afghanistan’s northern provinces to suppress Mawlawi Mahdi in Balkhab district of Sar-e-Pul province. Several fighters have reportedly been killed and injured in clashes between the two sides.

Mawlawi Mehdi is the only Hazara Taliban commander who moved to Balkhab district and left the group after he was ousted from the Taliban’s directorate of intelligence in Bamiyan. The Taliban have now sent thousands of troops to Balkhab to suppress the group’s former commander.