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Afghanistan's Hazara minority increasingly fearful under Taliban

Al-Monitor spoke to members of the long-persecuted Hazara Shiite minority group in Afghanistan as restrictions on women increase and verifiable information becomes scarcer. 

Members of the Taliban security forces arrive as Afghan women march during a demonstration they call Stop Hazara genocide a day after a suicide bomb attack at Dasht-e-Barchi learning centre, in Kabul on October 1, 2022. - (Photo by -/AFP via Getty Images)
Members of the Taliban security forces arrive as Afghan women march during a demonstration a day after a suicide bomb attack at a school in Kabul on Oct. 1, 2022. — AFP via Getty Images

KABUL — As the Taliban introduce greater restrictions on women and much of the local media have left or been forced to self-censor in Afghanistan, concerns have grown about the future of the Afghan Shia Hazara minority group despite assurances from the authorities. 

While deeply distrustful of the current government’s pledges to protect their long-persecuted community, many Hazaras told Al-Monitor while reporting from the country in late 2022 that their greatest concern for the moment is the future of their daughters and other women — and that it is unclear who is carrying out some of the attacks on them.

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