Ethnic violence in Afghanistan

Ethnic violence in Afghanistan has played a role in the wars in Afghanistan.

Demographics

Further information: Demographics of Afghanistan

There are about a dozen ethnic groups in Afghanistan, they include: Pashtuns, Tajiks, Hazaras, Uzbeks, and others who make up less than 2% each.[1] The most recent figures on the ethnic affiliations comes from a survey conducted by the Asia Foundation in 2014. According to the representative survey, 40% of the people identified themselves as Pashtun, 36% as Tajik, 10% as Hazara, 8% as Uzbek, 2% as Turkmen, 1% as Baloch, 1% as Nuristani, 1% as Aimaq, 1% as Arab, 1% as Pashaye, 1% as Sadat, 0.5% as Qizilbash, and 0.5% as Safi.[2]

Taliban rule

Further information: Battles of Mazar-i-Sharif (1997–98)

After the Taliban rose to power in the mid 1990s, they began committing atrocities against their opponents, the Shias Hazaras, Tajiks and Uzbeks. In 1998, the United Nations accused the Taliban of denying emergency food by the UN's World Food Program to 160,000 hungry and starving people (most of whom were Hazaras and Tajiks) "for political and military reasons".[3] The UN said the Taliban were starving people for their military agenda and using humanitarian assistance as a weapon of war.[4]

On August 8, 1998 the Taliban launched an attack on Mazar-i Sharif. Once in control the Taliban began to kill people based on their ethnicity, especially Hazaras and Uzbeks. Men, women and children were hunted by Taliban forces in response to between 1500-3000 Taliban fighters executed by the Uzbek Junbish-i Milli militia.[5] This ethnic cleansing left an estimated 5,000 to 6,000 dead.[6][7]

Fall of the Taliban

Further information: Fall of Mazar-i-Sharif

In 2001, Human Rights Watch voiced the fear that ethnic violence in Afghanistan was likely to increase due to the conflict between the different factions escalating.[8] Thousands of Pashtun people became refugees as they fled Uzbek Junbish-i Milli troops some of whom were reported as looting, raping and kidnapping when they were disarming Pashtuns accused of being former Taliban supporters in northern Afghanistan during the early stages of the War in Afghanistan (2001–present) which removed the dominantly Pashtun Taliban from power.[9]

Political measures

In 2010 the Afghan President Hamid Karzai set up a panel to investigate continuing ethnic violence as he believes it is hampering the military efforts to contain the Taliban insurgency.[10]

See also

• Crime in Afghanistan
• Pashtun colonization of northern Afghanistan

References

1. Gearon, Liam (2002). Human Rights and Religion (1st ed.). Sussex Academic Press. p. 262. ISBN 978-1902210940.
2. "Afghanistan in 2014 – A survey of the Afghan people" (PDF). Kabul, Afghanistan: The Asia Foundation. 2014. p. 211. Retrieved 2017-03-20. D-11. Which ethnic group do you belong to? SINGLE RESPONSE ONLY Pashtun 40%, Tajik 36%, Uzbek 8%, Hazara 10%, Turkmen 2%, Baloch 1%, Nuristani 1%, Aimak 1%, Arab 1%, Pashaye 1%, Sadat 1%, Qezelbash <0.5%, Safi <0.5%
3. http://nl.newsbank.com/nl-search/we/Archives?p_product=NewsLibrary&p_multi=APAB&d_place=APAB&p_theme=newslibrary2&p_action=search&p_maxdocs=200&p_topdoc=1&p_text_direct-0=0F8B4F98500EA0F8&p_field_direct-0=document_id&p_perpage=10&p_sort=YMD_date:D&s_trackval=GooglePM Associated Press: U.N. says Taliban starving hungry people for military agenda
4. "U.N. says Taliban starving hungry people for military agenda". Associated Press. 7 January 1998.
5. Afghanistan Justice project, 120
6. Armajani, Jon (2012). Modern Islamist Movements: History, Religion, and Politics. Wiley-Blackwell. p. 207. ISBN 978-1405117425.
7. Clements, Frank (2003). Conflict in Afghanistan: a historical encyclopedia. ABC-CLIO. p. 106. ISBN 978-1851094028.
8. "Afghanistan: Armed conflict poses risk of further ethnic violence". Human Rights Watch. 8 October 2001.
9. Gall, Carlotta (23 January 2002). "A NATION CHALLENGED: ETHNIC VIOLENCE; Pashtuns, Once Favored by Taliban, Now Face Retribution in Afghanistan's North". New York Times.
10. Nakamura, David (15 August 2010). "Panel investigates Afghanistan's ethnic violence". San Francisco Chronicle.

Further reading

• Human Rights Watch Backgrounder