Hazaras Massacred for Ethnic, Sectarian Affiliations, Says NRF Foreign Relations Head

Haqqani, who is currently in Helmand to meet local Taliban officials, met with the group’s fighters who had been injured or disabled during the Taliban insurgency against the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan and international forces.

It has been reported that Haqqani left Kabul after the US drone strike on the al-Qaeda leader's residence in Sherpur area of the capital city, last Sunday.

During the twenty years of Taliban’s insurgency against the international forces and the former government of Afghanistan, thousands of people have been injured, and many were left disabled.

The Taliban and the Haqqani network, along with other militant groups, have been one of the main causes of Afghans becoming disabled.

Taliban currently faces economic challenges and a crisis of legitimacy coupled with providing support and services to thousands of victims of the group's war in Afghanistan.

The group’s main challenge is meeting the expectations of those families who sent their children to the war front to fight against the former Afghan government and its international allies for the Taliban.

This comes even though every year many Afghan students complain of lack of books and teaching materials in Afghanistan.

Recently, a Taliban official had called the school curriculum "inappropriate”. Seyed Ahmad Shahidkhel, the Admin and Finance Deputy Minister of Education of the Taliban, had recently told TOLOnews that secondary and high schools have not been opened to female students since a revision of the curriculum by the group is underway.

According to him, soon "the science of ethics, belief, the science of raising children and marriage", will be added to the curriculum of these students.

Officials of the Ministries of Education and Higher Education of the Taliban have already expressed dissatisfaction with the Afghan educational system and the generations educated under the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan.

Previously, in 2021, Abdul Baqi Haqqani, the Acting Minister of Higher Education of the Taliban, had also said that they can’t expect much from graduates of universities under the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan.

Haqqani had stressed that the foundations of education in Afghanistan must be restructured, and students should be educated according to “the Islamic values”.

Meanwhile, the Taliban have made extensive changes in the curriculum of Afghan universities. After the takeover of Afghanistan by the group, hours of Islamic culture teaching in all departments of universities across the country have tripled.

In a statement, the ministry condemned the attack and called it an “unforgettable crime”.

The Iranian Foreign Ministry added that the international community's widespread condemnation of that crime and the solidarity of the Afghan people made Iran display self-restraint.

In 1998, when the Taliban entered Mazar-e-Sharif city in northern Balkh province, armed men attacked the Iranian consulate and killed eight Iranian diplomats and one journalist.

At that time, the Taliban had denied involvement in the attack.

Meanwhile, Iran's Foreign Ministry stressed that it stands by the people of Afghanistan and supports any solution that leads to permanent peace and stability in the country.

Iran, however, has emphasized on the formation of an inclusive government with the representation of all ethnic groups of Afghanistan.

According to local sources, since Sunday, telecommunications services have been cut off in the districts 3, 5, and 13 of Kabul.

Meanwhile, as per local sources, the Taliban has prevented Ashura ceremony in some areas of Kabul and other cities across Afghanistan. The western districts of Kabul witnessed heavy presence of armed Taliban men on Monday and roads were partially closed to traffic in this part of the capital.

Over the past three days, three explosions have rocked the city of Kabul. On Friday, there was an explosion in the Sari Kariz residential area in district 6; on Saturday, an explosion occurred in Pul-e Sokhta Bridge area in District 3, and on Sunday, an explosion occurred on Asmayee Road in District 1 of Kabul.

The United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA) has said that in the first two explosions alone, around 120 people have been killed and injured. The Islamic State – Khurasan (IS-K) has taken responsibility for these two explosions.

Referring to the killing of al-Qaeda leader Ayman al-Zawahiri in Shirpur area of Kabul, Hekmatyar said, "If America wants to, it can target its enemies anywhere in Afghanistan, even near the presidential palace."

According to Hekmatyar, the Shirpur strike shows that the Afghan nation must reach a consensus and take a firm stand against these attacks.

He said with a firm reaction that the US will target not only the foreigners, but Afghans too, including leaders of the Taliban in the future.

According to Hekmatyar, there is no definitive proof that Zawahiri was killed on Sunday. However, he said that the strike targeted a location in the proximity of the Afghan presidential palace and it shows that the US is actively present in Afghanistan and the war has not ended yet.

He called the Doha agreement “a deception, not a real agreement”.

According to Hekmatyar, the US drone strike proved that Afghanistan's airspace is not safe and that Afghans are not in control of Afghanistan’s soil.

According to Hekmtyar, al-Zawahiri was present in Afghanistan for the past 20 years. He said that the al-Qaeda leader was living in Paktia, Khost, Waziristan, Nuristan, and sometimes, he was in Musa Qala of Helmand province.

During his Friday prayer speech, Hekmatyar added, "The question is how al-Zawahiri came to Kabul and with what confidence? Who informed the Americans about his whereabouts?" He urged the Taliban to give a clear and acceptable answer to his questions and stressed that the group should answer Afghans on how the drone strike took place. He also emphasized that the Taliban should break their silence around al-Zawahiri’s killing.