The Taliban vandalized and destroyed the statue VG

The statue depicts Abd Ali Mazari, a Shiite militia leader who belongs to the Hazara ethnic minority. He was killed by the Taliban during the fighting in the mid-1990s.

to me AP The statue was blown up this week after the Taliban regained power in Afghanistan. AFP reports that the statue has been decapitated, NTB writes.

“We are not sure who destroyed the statue, but there are different groups of Taliban here, some of them are known for their brutality,” a resident of the area told AFP.

Photos on social media should show the destroyed statue.

The statue stood in the central province of Bamiyan – the same province where the Taliban sparked international outrage In 2001, when they blew up two irreplaceable Buddha statues.

The statues were included in the UNESCO World Heritage List of Cultural Monuments, and were more than 1,500 years old. It was destroyed shortly before the United States entered Afghanistan to overthrow the Taliban.

Cultural relics have been destroyed repeatedly in world history through wars and conflicts – often on purpose. for him More on this here.

News of the statue’s bombing comes after the Taliban made a series of promises during a press conference on Tuesday to ensure security in the country. They said, among other things, that interpreters who worked with foreign forces would not be punished And that women’s rights will be respected.

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He was subjected to several brutal attacks

According to the news agency Reuters Ethnic minorities in Afghanistan – such as the Hazara people – still have reason to fear for the future.

When they last ruled Afghanistan, they were responsible for mass executions of the Hazara people. Nematullah al-Ibrahimi of La Trobe University in Melbourne, Australia, said they had suppressed them and forced tens of thousands of them to flee Afghanistan. guardian.

The minority makes up just under ten percent of the population, and they, unlike the vast majority of Afghanistan’s population, are Shiite Muslims. Throughout history, they have been subjected to discrimination, persecution and a number of brutal attacks.

In April this year, among other things, seven Hazaras were found shot dead in Jalalabad in the east of the country, according to the NTB.

Reuters: At least three killed in anti-Taliban demonstration

Several media outlets reported a tense atmosphere in large parts of Afghanistan on Wednesday.

to me Al Jazeera Among other things, there were large protests against the Taliban in the city of Jalalabad in eastern Afghanistan. According to Reuters, three people were killed and at least 12 wounded.

The city’s residents are said to have protested the replacement of the black, red and green Afghan flags with the white Taliban flag with black patterns in many public areas.

According to the news agency AP The Taliban responded to the protests by firing in the air. They were also said to have attacked the crowd with batons.

“We know that the demonstrators raised the flag again in an important place in Jalalabad and there were clashes with the Taliban,” Al-Jazeera correspondent Rob McBride told his private channel.