Exactly thirty years ago today, on February 10 and 11 of 1993, at the height of the civil, tribal, organizational, religious, and fratricidal wars in Kabul, Afghanistan. The forces and militias led by Ahmad Shah Massoud, the Ittihad-e Islami (Islamic Union) led by Abdul Rab Rasul Sayyaf, and the Harakat-e Islami (Islamic Movement) led by Sayed Hussein Anwari during their fierce battles with the Hezb-e Wahdat (Islamic Unity Party) they attacked the innocent and oppressed Hazara people of Afghanistan in the Afshar area west of Kabul city, Afghanistan.
Nevertheless, they had demonstrated the most horrific, brutal massacre, looting, and rape of women in this area. This incident is a tragic tragedy in the contemporary history of Afghanistan, engraved in the hearts of the bereaved mothers and fathers whose sons and children were massacred in this tragedy. It was a global catastrophe condemned by all nations and human rights organizations, but it was too late.
Human Rights Watch Investigation Report on the Afshar Tragedy – 2005
Therefore, Regarding the numerous reports of the Afshar genocide tragedy that many local researchers and writers have published in local newspapers and magazines. But the US State Department and Human Rights Watch put the death toll about a thousand in their 1993-2005 investigation report, which is available at this link: https://b2n.ir/hrw.afshar.tragedy. It is something that indeed has received less attention to the depths of this inhuman tragedy. The reason is that there have been circles that deliberately and practically wanted to prevent the occurrence and spread of this massacre of the Hazara people in Afghanistan, which the world and humanitarian organizations should not hear.
The Bloodthirsty Murderers Who Never Tried
But today, the world and human beings have come together in sympathy. We hope that human rights organizations and the United Nations will seriously, fairly, and impartially investigate the tragedy and massacre of Afshar in western Kabul. The bloodthirsty perpetrators and killers of this human tragedy in Afshar should be brought to justice by law. It is not just the wish of you and me but the want of thousands of innocent Hazara mothers and fathers of Afghanistan who are still mourning their loved ones.
Afshar is the Scar of Brotherless in the History of Afghanistan and Hazaras
Afghanistan’s criminal parties, such as Jamiat and Ittihad, in their war against the Hezb-e Wahdat led by Abdul Ali Mazari, launched a massive and inhumane attack on western Kabul. When the Hezb-e Wahdat commanders and soldiers fled the battlefield, Jamiat and Sayyaf militants under the command of Ahmad Shah Massoud and Sayyaf, with all their savagery and predation, fell on the lives of the civilian and oppressed people of Afshar. So much oppression, plunder, looting, child murder, and rape; the pen cannot describe it and shed tears!
So, Afshar is the sinus wound of humanity and brotherless in the history of Afghanistan and Hazara. After years of displacement, migration, confusion, and grief, some massacre survivors have returned to their homes in Afshar, west of Kabul. But the nightmare of this atrocity has still pervaded their minds for over three decades. It will not be forgotten, but there will be no cure unless the murderers of Afshar are brought to justice. Perhaps the grief of the mothers and fathers, the victims of Afshar, will be reduced a little by the punishment of Afshar killers and not much more.
More Than Seventy Dead were on the Road
Mrs. Gol is one of the survivors of the Afshar tragedy. And she lost her two brothers in this genocide and massacre, quotes Mrs. Gol in an article written by Kaveh Azm and published in the solidarity party of Afghanistan: “We were all at home when Sayyaf and Masood’s militants came in. My two brothers, Sultan Ali and Ewaz Ali, and my older brother Mohammad Ali’s father-in-law were killed at the first opportunity. I was beaten with the butt of the gun. My two sons, Hassan Reza, and Zaynullah, took with them. Because, to save our honor, my two daughters and I had no choice but to flee.
We left the bodies in our yard and had to go to Taimani. Taimani is one of the areas of Kabul city near the Afshar site. When we left the house, more than 70 dead people were lying on the street in our alley, and we walked barefoot toward Taimani in horror and panic.” Mrs. Gol, with tears in her eyes, continues: “The next day, I came back to the Afshar site to receive the bodies and my two sons. There was heavy shelling and shooting near the technical bridge. The technical bridge is one site of Kabul city, and they stood me in one post and said, where are you going? I said, here is my house. They said take off your Chadari (Scarf). When I took off my Chadari, they snarled you are a Hazara woman; what are you doing here?”. (Kaveh Azm)
Cowardly and Aggressive Operations
In February, the cowardly and aggressive operation against the oppressed Hazara people in Afshar marked the most extensive and complete use of military force by the Afghan party government to date. There were two tactical objectives in this operation. The first was that Ahmad Shah Massoud aimed to conquer the military and political bases of the Hezb-e Wahdat through his aggressive operations. And the second option was to capture the leader of the Hezb-e Wahdat, Abdul Ali Mazari, whose sinister and inhumane goals by Ahmad Shah Massoud, killing thousands of civilians in Afshar.
And also, this tragedy caused substantial financial losses in Afshar of Kabul city. The Minister of Defense and the Supreme Commander of the Government at that time were in Operation of Afshar Ahmad Shah Massoud with the others. Like Sayed Hussein Anwari, Abdul Rab Rasul Sayyaf, and Ayatollah Mohseni, they have been responsible for planning and directing military operations against the people of Afshar for two days.
Human Rights Watch’s Findings on the Afshar Tragedy
In a document titled “Blood-Stained Hands” in July 2005, Human Rights Watch outlined the plan for the operation as follows. “Human Rights Watch has found credible and inconsistent reports from several officials working with Ahmad Shah Massoud. And the interim government that a military campaign against the Hazara people and residents of the Afshar region was being planned by high-ranking officials from the Jamiat Party and the Nizar Council, the Ittihad Party, and the Rabbani government was approved. The head of intelligence, Mohammad Qasim Fahim, was entirely responsible for the special operations. His personnel contacted some Sayed-Shiite commanders at bases around the Afshar area and obtained their commitment to cooperate with the Rabbani government and Ahmad Shah Massoud for operations on Afshar. And it’s available at this link: https://b2n.ir/HumanRightsWatch
On February 11, 1993, Afshar Drowned in Blood and Fire
On February 11, 1993, Afshar drowned amid blood and fire. The smell of death and gunpowder and the cries of oppressed women and children changed the west of Kabul into a mourning place for Afghanistan’s history and the oppression of civilians and Hazaras in Afshar of Afghanistan. According to the Transitional Justice Project in Afghanistan, thousands of people, including children, women, and older men who were all Hazaras, were brutally dismembered that night under the auspices of the Nizar Council, the Sayyaf Alliance, and the Islamic Movement Party.
On the other hand, the attackers in Afshar also cut off the breasts of women and the heads of young people. However, we have witnessed many examples of the brutality used in the massacre and killings of Hazara people in Afshar at different stages of Afghanistan’s history. As Taliban criminals in Mazar-e-Sharif, Yakawlang, Ghazni, Daykundi, Ghor, and other places in Afghanistan killed the Hazara people. It is a catastrophe as genocide in every corner of Afghanistan that the world and the people of the world should know that such atrocities are not and will not be forgotten in human history.
Rape on Women, and Girls in Afshar
In Afshar, in addition to massacres, women and children were also raped, and another severe crime took place alongside other crimes, which added to the pain of human beings. These acts are apparent war crimes for which the perpetrators of this crime have not yet been punished. Bullets that targeted the defenseless people of Afshar and skewers that tore the chests of the people in Afshar had the name of jihad written on them and were aimed at those who carried the claim of Islam and jihad. The jihad of warlords and criminals against the civilian people was aimed at a massacre and genocide called Hazara in Afghanistan, marking the same act of barbarism and brutalism in the history of criminals in Afshar.
Many years have passed since that black day and night. The great tragedy and blood are still dripping from Afshar’s wounds and the ruins of Afshar. There are still cries of oppressed and helpless women and children who were raped in a barrage of bullets and dances by militants of the Islamic State of Afghanistan by criminals and its allies. And rolled in blood, can be heard. Afshar is a scar on the forehead of contemporary Afghanistan history and an eternal stigma on the shoulders of Afshar’s killers, whom the human conscience will never forgive.
The Afshar Criminals and Murderers Are Still Watching Their Crimes
Yeah! In Afshar, criminals wrote memorials on the wall with the six months’ blood of children, shot their cradles, and raped women and girls. In the Afshar attack, their criminal soldiers cut women’s nails and ears for a ring and earrings. It is not a tiny issue and has been a blatant war crime against the Hazara people in Afghanistan. But unfortunately these same war criminals were in important government positions until today and yesterday, and they still rule over the oppressed people of Afghanistan. The grief of Afshar tragedy is one of the bloodiest and saddest events in the history of the right-seeking and justice struggles of the Hazara people in Afghanistan. This incident took place at the end of the twentieth century when slogans of freedom, democracy, and human rights were heard all over the world.
Ultimately, it happened in the heart of a country, like Kabul city, in front of the eyes of the world. People who committed this crime also returned from the strongholds in the name of jihad and struggle. Its leaders considered themselves professors, engineers, conquerors, mujahids, the lion of Panjshir, and masters of Islamic sciences. The government that committed this crime was no longer the monarchy of a dynasty that had the idea of dictatorship and tyranny. But this government was considered by the Islamic State’s name, based on the massacre, murder, rape, and disrespect of people and civilians in Afghanistan.
Endnotes:
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Afshar_Operation#:~:text=The%20Afshar%20operation%2C%20which%20saw,single%20events%20in%20Afghanistan’s%20wars
- https://hindupost.in/world/daykundi-province-the-arena-of-war-crimes-by-the-afghan-pathaan-taliban/
- https://www.theguardian.com/world/2001/nov/16/afghanistan.terrorism
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