By: Farhad Kohestani
Translated by: Mohammad Rezaie
One main Groups behind Killing Hazaras, is Taliban. As before, Taliban has continued the bloody serial killing of Hazaras. The don’t directly kill Hazras due to widespread social media, picturing and sound recording because it increases their costs. As a result, they do this under the name of Nomads/Kohis and ISIS.
Taliban with anti-Hazara perception and lack of feeling responsibility to maintain their security, has created a safe environment to kill Hazaras in Afghanistan, planning the attacks under the name of ISIS and then implementing such plans. ISIS deadly attacks including attacking on Kaaj Educational Center, attacking on the mosque of Shiite Muslims in Baghlan, killing and inuring several Hazaras, are a few examples of the outcomes of Taliban inaction to maintain the security of Hazaras. Consequently, the Taliban anti-Hazara approach, attacking Hazaras and forcing them to leave their ancestral lands and homes, encourages other terrorist groups to kill Hazaras fearing no prosecution by Taliban. Undeniably, it motivates the terrorist groups in killing Hazaras.
I have mentioned several events under the Taliban rule in Herat that happened recently, killing four Hazara religious scholars and four ordinary people in Herat.
1: Unknown armed men on October 10, 2023, took out Eid Mohammad, a Hazara Shiite religious scholar, from his home in Enjil district, Herat and shot him. Reliable local sources told the Silk Way Weekly that Taliban had taken out Eid Mohammad Etemadi, the member of Herat Ulema Council, and Imam of Shiite Muslims in Khosh rood village and influential person, and out of his home and killed him.
2: Tow other religious scholars, named Rajab Ali Akhlaqi and Khadem Hussain Hedaiati, also were killed by unknown men riding on motorcycles, on November 23, 2023, In Jibrael town, Herat. A reliable local source reported on the same day to the Silk Way Weekly that Rajabl Ali Akhlaqi and Khadem Hussain Hedaiati, the Shiite scholars, were killed savagely in Al-Mahdi Jibrael town by unknown armed riding bicycles.
Taliban local officials have not commented on the incident yet. But a number of social media users and political and cultural activists, termed killing Hazara religious scholars as the continuation of “Hazaras Genocide”.
3: Killing Hazara religious scholars did not end in Etemadi and Hedaiati. Unknown armed men on December, 1. 2023, opened fired on 3 wheeled car in Korae Mili area of Jibrael town in Herat, killing 6. The names of the victims were Mohammad Mohsin Mohammadi, Mohammad Taqi Sadiqi, Awaz and Sakhidad, Hakima and Najiba.
Rukhshnan, publishing this incident on media December 4, wrote, unknown armed men riding on a high-speed vehicle, opened fire on civilians at 12:30PM, Friday, in Kore Milli area in Jibrael Town, Herat. The attackers riding on a white fielder car, with no number plate, opened fire on civilians and run a way. We were not able to identify the number of the attackers and their identities.
According to Rukhshana, Mohammad Mohsin Hamedi, the Imam of Hazrat Abulfazel mosque and Mohammad Taqi, the Imam of Rasul Azam mosue, were residents of Kore Mille area and three other members of a family including one woman, named Najiba, were the residents of Pule Pashtun area and another woman, named Hakima, was from Kore Milli area. Two people were inured and have been transferred to Iran as their health condition was not stable.
Rukhshana added on Friday, Sakhidad Ghulami, the resident of Pule Pashtun along with his members of family and two religious’ scholars from Shahrak Shohada, went to Shahrak Sabz to meet their relatives there. In the morning, they go to Shahrak Shohada and Jabrael with a three wheeled reksah and the driver has been also their relatives. The a fielder type car watches them and stops them in the end of Shahrak Sabz, joining it to the road, and makes the passengers come down of the reksha.
The occupants of the three-wheeler included Sakhidad Ghulami along with his wife and son, two religious scholars, a woman with her son-in-law, relatives of Sakhidad’s family, and including the driver of the three-wheeler, who were eight people in total. According to the source, when the armed men took them down from the three-wheeler, they asked where they had gone and did not allow them to speak and shot them. After shooting Sakhidad and his companions, the armed men return to the Shahrak Sabz in their car. According to the source of Rkhshana the faces of the people who shot the passengers of the tricycle were covered.
According to Rakhshana, Sakhidad Ghulami along with his wife and son, Mohammad Mohsin Hamedi and Mohammad Taqi Sadeqi, religious scholars, one woman and another son of Sakhidad’s relatives were killed in this incident. Sayyed Hossain, the driver of the three-wheeler, who was seriously injured, was transferred to Iran for better treatment the next day, and another son of Sakhidad’s relatives, who was hit by a bullet in his hand, was discharged from the hospital.
The Taliban in Herat also said that six people were killed and two were wounded in this attack.
Rukhshana reported that after the latest incident, a number of Taliban officials, including Hayatullah Mohajer Farahi, the deputy governor of the Taliban for Herat, went to Jebrael town and assured to provide security and prevent the recurrence of attacks and assassinations of Shiite clerics.
Reactions to the attack on three-wheelers in Herat
The attack of 1 Decemebr, on Hazara citizens in Jabreel town of Herat caused a lot of reactions in the cyberspace and many mourned the loss of their loved ones in this event.
Reza Nateqi, one of the Facebook users who lost his brother-in-law Mohsin Hamedi in this incident, wrote to his niece that Mohammad Hossain, his niece, is still very young and he desperately needed the support and shadow of his father over his head. “Mohammad Hossain Hamedi today put his last support to the torn body of his father and said goodbye. This farewell is so bitter for me that it has set my whole being on fire; But the only thing that relieves my pain is God’s promise that the martyr’s blood will not dry.”
Nateqi added, Mohammad Mohsin Hamedi was an innocent religious student and a religious young man; but unfortunately, he was killed by the dark hearted terrorists at the door of his home. “His young orphans, are missing him as Ruqiai and Sakina. We wonder what to tell them.”
Amir Ehsani, another Facebook user and one of Mohsen Hamedi’s friends, wrote: “I came to Herat a few days ago, I called to say hi, he was very happy; With the same witty and sweet nature, he said: “Sweet, it is fine, you have come. I will definitely come to see you soon.” But unfortunately, I didn’t have the opportunity to see him.”
Mohammad Reza Alami Laali, a social activist and one of Mohsen Hamedi’s friends, wrote that he was one of his friends during his religious student days and a passionate and generous youth. “While he was a religious preacher, he supported footsal teams and sports activities with the few facilities he had. “Unfortunately, today the dirty hands of merciless killers shot him with a bunch of innocent people in Herat.”
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