The Hazaras are an ethnic group and a principal component of Afghanistan’s population. They are one of the largest ethnic groups in Afghanistan, primarily residing in the Hazaristan (Hazarajat) region in central Afghanistan. Hazaras also form significant minority communities in Pakistan, mainly in Quetta, and in Iran, primarily in Mashhad. They speak the Dari and Hazaragi dialects of Persian. Dari, also known as Dari Persian, is one of the two official languages of Afghanistan.
Mazar-i-Sharīf, also known as Mazar-e Sharīf or simply Mazar, is the fifth-largest city in Afghanistan by population, with an estimated 500,207 residents in 2021. It is the capital of Balkh province and is linked by highways with Kunduz in the east, Kabul in the southeast, Herat in the southwest and Termez, Uzbekistan in the north. It is about 55 km (34 mi) from the Uzbek border. The city is also a tourist attraction because of its famous shrines as well as the Islamic and Hellenistic archeological sites. The ancient city of Balkh is also nearby.
The Battles of Mazar-i-Sharif, were a series of engagements fought during the Third Afghan Civil War between the forces of Abdul Malik Pahlawan and his Hazara allies, Junbish-e Milli, and the Taliban, from May 1997 to August 1998.
The Hazaras have long been the subject of persecution in Afghanistan, including enslavement during the 19th century and ethnic and religious persecution for hundreds of years. In the 20th and 21st centuries, they have also been the victims of massacres committed by the Taliban and al-Qaeda. Hazaras have been systemically killed and discriminated against socially, economically, and culturally with specific intent, argued by some to constitute genocide. The Hazaras primarily come from the central regions of Afghanistan, known as Hazarajat. Significant communities of Hazara people also live in Quetta, Pakistan and in Mashad, Iran, as part of the Hazara and Afghan diasporas.
On 21 April 2017, at least ten Taliban fighters attacked Camp Shaheen, headquarters of the 209th Corps of the Afghan National Army (ANA), near Mazar-i-Sharif, Balkh Province. The death toll was unclear—official Afghan government statements said about 140 people were killed and 160 injured, while media reports said as many as 256 were dead. The attack was the deadliest on an Afghan military base since the beginning of the war.
Ustad Muhammad Akbari known as Ustad Akbari, is a former Hazara jihadist commander in Afghanistan, who has held various political affiliations during periods of conflict in Afghanistan. He was the representative of Bamyan during the fifteenth and sixteenth sessions of Afghanistan's parliament, and a member of the House of Elders from 2017 onward.
The Islamic State–Taliban conflict is an ongoing insurgency waged by the Islamic State – Khorasan Province (IS-KP) against the Taliban regime in Afghanistan. The conflict initially began when both operated as rival insurgent groups in Nangarhar; since the formation of the Taliban's state in 2021, IS-KP members have enacted a campaign of terrorism targeting both civilians and assassinating Taliban members using hit-and-run tactics. The group have also caused incidents and attacks across the border in Pakistan.
Ahmad Zia Saraj was the last Director General of National Directorate of Security National Directorate of Security (Afghanistan) from 2019 to 2021, until the collapse of the Islamic Republic. He served as the Deputy Director General, chief of counter terrorism department, deputy chief of foreign intelligence & counterintelligence and some other key positions in NDS respectively over 20 years after the fall of Taliban in 2001. He has been serving as visiting professor in the war studies department of the King's College London University since early 2023.
Daoud Naji also spelled as Dawood Naji is an ethnic Hazara politician, political activist and journalist from Afghanistan. He was senior political adviser to the Afghan National Security Council. Before he joined the government, he was a senior leader of the Enlightenment Movement of Afghanistan and the Tabassum movement. Daoud Naji has previously been a BBC Radio journalist and worked for BBC World Service for 14 years. As of September 2024, he is the head of the political committee of the Afghanistan Freedom Front.
The republican insurgency in Afghanistan is an ongoing low-level guerrilla war between the National Resistance Front and allied groups which fight under the banner of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan on one side, and the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan on the other side. On 17 August 2021, former first vice president of Afghanistan Amrullah Saleh declared himself the "caretaker" president of Afghanistan and announced the resistance. On 26 August, a brief ceasefire was declared. On 1 September, talks broke down and fighting resumed as the Taliban attacked resistance positions.
Sanaullah Ghafari, better known under his nom de guerre, Shahab al-Muhajir is an Afghan militant who is serving as the Emir of the Islamic State's Khorasan Province (ISIS–K) since 2020.
Shahjahan Noori, also known as General Shahjahan Noori, He was an Afghan guerrilla, military and police commander, during resistance against Soviet invasion and fight against terrorist groups such as Taliban and Al-Qaeda between 1981 and 2011.
On April 21, 2022, several separate explosions rocked different parts of Afghanistan. The first explosion occurred at the biggest Shia Muslim Seh Dokan mosque in Mazar-e-Sharif, Afghanistan. Over 31 people were killed and another 87 injured in the mosque explosion. Another explosion targeted a vehicle near a police station Kunduz city, leaving 4 dead and 18 injured. A mine planted explosion hit a van of the military in Khogiani killing four Taliban members and wounding a fifth. The roadside bomb wounded two children in the Niaz Beyk area of Kabul. Islamic State (ISIL) has claimed several attacks including the bombing of the Seh Dokan mosque.
On 22 April 2022, the Sufi Mawlawi Sekandar Mosque in Kunduz, Afghanistan was bombed, leaving 33 people dead and 43 others injured.
Mawlawi Mehdi Mujahid was an Afghan Hazara rebel who led around 200 Hazara fighters during the Balkhab uprising. He was a Taliban commander before rebelling against the Taliban until he was killed on 17 August 2022.
The Balkhab uprising was a Hazara rebellion in Balkhab district, Sar-e Pol province, Afghanistan against the Taliban. It was led by Mehdi Mujahid, and it began on 23 June 2022 after Mehdi Mujahid's forces captured Balkhab district.
Mujib-ur-Rahman Ansari was an Afghan mullah and cleric who operated in the city of Herat. An ally of the Taliban, Ansari was considered to be a Salafist and Wahhabist preacher, and was a staunch opponent of the American-backed Afghan government. In the late 2010s, Ansari seized control of a district of Herat, where he established extrajudicial sharia courts and checkpoints operated by his armed enforcers. A Taliban official described Ansari as being Afghanistan's most popular religious scholar in 2022.
Events in the year 2024 in Afghanistan. After 45 years of fighting, Afghanistan gives up where millions of people including men, women and children all died of extreme hunger acute as banditry and homicide become widescale through nationwide especially the ravaged city of Kabul under Taliban rule. The Afghan women and girls are banned from being seen at the windows, as well as medical training after they are forced to close one of the last remaining loopholes in the country. While the Taliban restrictions affecting all aspects of society and their lives for every female individuals banning their voices which turned Afghanistan into a giant prison. The Afghan society had returned to the Dark Ages after 3 year anniversary of the Fall of Kabul to the Taliban regime.
The Afghanistan Champions League is a professional men's football league run by the Afghanistan Football Federation (AFF). It is the country's primary competition for the sport. The competition commenced in 2021.
