KABUL: The Taliban killed one of their former leaders who was known as the first commander of the group hailing from the minority Shiite Hazara community, officials confirmed on Wednesday, adding that he had rebelled against the de facto government.
Mawlawi Mahdi was shot dead by Taliban forces near the border with Iran as he attempted to flee the country, the defense ministry said in a statement.
Mahdi’s appointment as a commander some years ago was touted as an example of the Taliban’s changed on stance on minorities. He was in the spotlight after the Taliban took control of Afghanistan in the wake of the pullout of western forces last year.
The Taliban are hard-line followers of the Sunni branch of Islam, and were previously almost exclusively associated with the Pashtun ethnicity. More recently, the group had sought to include members of other ethnicities and some Shiites.
The Hazara, native to Afghanistan’s central mountains, are the country’s largest mainly Shiite ethnic group. After the Taliban formed a government last year, Mahdi was given the post of intelligence chief in a central province.
The origins of the breach between Mahdi and the Taliban have not been made public, but as far back as June, the defense ministry had spoken of a clearance operation against rebels in northern Afghanistan.
The defense ministry on Wednesday described Mahdi as a the “leader of the rebels” in a district in the northern province of Sar-e-Pol.
A Taliban source told Reuters that Mahdi had fallen out with the Taliban and had revolted against the group’s leadership.
The statement said he was killed in Herat close to the border with Shiite majority Iran, where he was trying to flee.
Reuters was not able to contact representatives of Mahdi for comment.
Taliban kill one of their ex-leaders from minority Hazara community
https://arab.news/w7jn6
Taliban kill one of their ex-leaders from minority Hazara community
- Mawlawi Mahdi was shot dead by Taliban forces near the border with Iran as he attempted to flee the country
- The Hazara, native to Afghanistan’s central mountains, are the country’s largest mainly Shiite ethnic group
Europol warns Iran crisis raises threat of terror, extremism and cyberattacks
- Oorth said groups linked to Iran could seek to carry out “destabilising activities” within the EU
- “The level of terrorist threat and violent extremism in EU territory is considered high“
MADRID: The Middle East conflict will have “immediate repercussions” for European Union security with an increased threat of terrorism, serious and organized crime as well as violent extremism and cyberattacks, European police body Europol told Spanish news agency EFE on Thursday.
Europol spokesman Jan Op Gen Oorth said he expected to see more cyberattacks against European infrastructure and an increase in online fraud using increasingly sophisticated Artificial Intelligence and exploiting the flurry of information swirling about the conflict online, EFE reported.
Groups linked to Iran could seek to carry out “destabilising activities” within the EU, he added, referring to groups linked to the so-called Axis of Resistance, the network of anti-American and Israeli Shiite militias in countries including Iraq, Lebanon and Yemen. These could include terrorist attacks, intimidation campaigns, terrorist financing and cybercrime.
“The level of terrorist threat and violent extremism in EU territory is considered high,” he told the news agency.
The terror threat could be heightened by individuals acting alone or small cells acting on their own initiative, he said.
“The rapid spread of polarizing content on the Internet can accelerate short-term radicalization processes among diaspora communities within the EU and other individuals,” he said.
Europol did not immediately return a Reuters request for comment on the reported statements.
Iran and Israel on Thursday were exchanging fire on a sixth day of war after Israel and the United States launched joint air strikes on Iran on the weekend. So far the attacks have killed more than 1,000 people including Iran’s Supreme Leader, prompted Iran to attack neighbors including Qatar and UAE along with energy shipments.
