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Taliban Forced Shia Clerics To Offer Eid Prayers On Friday in Balkh

Apr 22, 2023, 14:15 GMT+1

Shia clerics and politicians reacted to the Taliban forcing the Shia community to perform Eid prayers on Friday. Sayed Haidar Hashemi, a Shia cleric in Mazar-i-Sharif, on Saturday, said that the Taliban forced several Shia clerics in Balkh to offer Eid prayers on Friday.

Hashemi told worshipers at the Soltania mosque, “We have a document that our friends in different areas forced Shia clerics to perform Eid prayers; they interrogated those who didn’t pray as the Taliban wanted.”

He added, "One of our clerics, Seyyed Qasim Zahedi, who is present here, was summoned by the brothers of the Islamic Emirate yesterday evening because he did not offer the [Eid] prayer."

Hashemi stressed that Shia believers have minor differences with the Sunni followers of Islam and the Taliban must respect it.

Hashemi also said that Shia community members held Eid prayers in Mazar-i-Sharif, Kabul, and Herat on Saturday.

The Supreme Court of the Taliban announced on Thursday evening that Friday is Eid al-Fitr, but most Shia did not celebrate Eid on Friday.

There were reports from various parts of Afghanistan on Friday that the Taliban forced Shia Muslims to break their fast or participate in Eid prayers.

Mehdi Rasakh, a former member of the Afghan House of Representatives, said that the Taliban set up checkpoints in Nili city, the capital of Daikundi province, to force people to break their fast on Friday.

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Taliban Forces Shia Community in Daikundi To Break Fast, Says Former MP

Apr 22, 2023, 11:30 GMT+1

Mehdi Rasikh, a member of parliament in the previous government, confirmed that Taliban have forced Hazara-Shia residents of Daikundi province to break their fast and celebrate Eid. Rasikh added that those who disobeyed the Taliban have been severely beaten up and imprisoned.

The former MP added, "The shopkeepers of Nili Bazaar were forcibly taken to the headquarters of the brigade by Haji Rashid, the commander of the Taliban brigade, and all of them were forced to drink water and break their fast."

Rasikh criticised the Taliban and said that the group has targeted religious beliefs, culture, and most private issues of the people and abolished religious diversity.

Earlier, the Taliban officials in Balkh had ordered the Shia community members in the province to celebrate Eid according to the fatwa of the Taliban leaders.

The Supreme Court of the Taliban announced on Tuesday that the head of the Taliban court for Balkh province has conveyed this message to the Shia community representatives.

Shia-Hazara communities of Afghanistan usually follow their religious leaders and celebrate religious ceremonies including Eid, sometimes a day apart from Sunni Hanafi citizens of Afghanistan.

Taliban announced Eid in Afghanistan on Friday, but it seems that most Shiites celebrate Eid on Saturday.

Any Discussion About Recognition of Taliban Unacceptable, Says US State Dept Spokesperson

Apr 22, 2023, 09:59 GMT+1

Vedant Patel, the Deputy Spokesperson of the US State Department, announced that any discussion at the UN meeting in Doha about the recognition of the Taliban would be unacceptable. Patel stressed that the purpose of the meeting was never to discuss recognition of the Taliban.

Earlier, Amina Mohammed, the Deputy Secretary General of the United Nations, expressed hope that in the upcoming meeting of the UN Secretary-General with the special envoys of various countries, initial steps for recognition of the Taliban will be discussed.

The statement of Mohammed has been met with wide-ranging reactions from political groups, activists, and Afghan women.

The political and military groups opposed to the Taliban have also called any discussion on the recognition of the Taliban a "betrayal of the Afghan people".

Afghanistan Independent Human Rights Commission asked Amina Mohammed to apologise to the people of Afghanistan for her recent remarks about the recognition of the Taliban.

The meeting of the Secretary General of the United Nations with the special representatives of countries for Afghanistan is scheduled to be held in Doha on May 1 and 2.

The UN spokesperson has also said that the meeting will not be focused on the international recognition of the Taliban.

Jamiat-e-Islami Party Leaders Unite To Save Afghanistan, Says Noor

Apr 21, 2023, 13:23 GMT+1

Former Balkh governor, Atta Mohammad Noor, announced that the leaders of the Jamiat-e-Islami Party have united. Noor said that during a meeting, Salahuddin Rabbani, Ismail Khan, Yunos Qanooni, and Ahmad Massoud, pledged to fight for the salvation of Afghanistan.

In recent years, due to differences among the senior leaders of the Jamiat-e-Islami Party, Noor established a splinter group.

Noor also asked other political forces opposing the Taliban to stand together to save Afghanistan.

In an Eid message, Noor said that over the past two years, "the cruel and ignorant Taliban has taken away people's happiness”.

He emphasised that the Taliban have deprived Afghan citizens of democratic governance and fundamental rights, eliminated political groups, and tortured and killed former security forces.

After the Taliban took control of Afghanistan in 2021, several Afghan political leaders established the National Resistance Council for the Salvation of Afghanistan. They include Atta Mohammad Noor, Mohammad Ismail Khan, Yunos Qanooni, Ahmad Massoud, and Salahuddin Rabbani.

NRF & Afghanistan Liberation Front To Increase Military Operations Against Taliban

Apr 21, 2023, 10:11 GMT+1

The National Resistance Front (NRF) and Afghanistan Liberation Front (AFF), in their Eid messages, stressed on increased military operations against the Taliban. NRF said that its priority is to mobilise and unify anti-Taliban forces in 2023.

However, AFF and NRF in separate statements emphasised that currently, they are not in favour of engagement with the Taliban.

The two military anti-Taliban fronts have also condemned the statement of the UN deputy secretary general about the recognition of the Taliban.

NRF said, "Lobbying for the Taliban is a futile task and against the interests of the people of Afghanistan.”

According to NRF, "The path to freedom and the return of peace to Afghanistan will come from standing up, fighting and sacrificing, not from engaging [and] dealings with the Taliban."

The Afghanistan Liberation Front, which has lost seven of its prominent forces in a recent clash with the Taliban, has said that political talks with the Taliban have no results and considers "armed struggles against the group as the most effective solution”.

Rights Group Urges UN Deputy Secretary General To Apologise For Statement on Taliban

Apr 21, 2023, 09:35 GMT+1

Afghanistan Independent Human Rights Commission (AIHRC) urged the UN deputy secretary general to apologise to the people of Afghanistan for her statement about the recognition of the Taliban. According to AIHRC, the UN cannot recognise Taliban due to their treatment of Afghans.

In a statement on Thursday, AIHRC stressed that the Taliban oppress the people of Afghanistan and has an autocratic government.

The Afghanistan Independent Human Rights Commission, which operates outside of Afghanistan after the fall of the former government, has described the official recognition of the Taliban as "reckless and insulting" to the victims of the Taliban.

On Monday, Amina Mohammed, the UN deputy secretary general said that the recognition of the Taliban is necessary to make the group responsible and prevent the deterioration of the situation in Afghanistan.

However, on Thursday, a UN spokesman, Farhan Haq admitted that the remarks of Mohammed had "caused confusion". He emphasised that only member states of the UN can recognise the Taliban.