Taliban Deputy Claims Mujahideen Inflicted Misfortunes on Afghans After Soviet Withdrawal

KABUL (Afghan Verified) — Abdul Salam Hanafi, deputy administrative head of the Taliban prime minister's office, claimed that after the withdrawal of Soviet forces, the Mujahideen fought each other for power and subjected Afghanistan's people to sectarian, ethnic, linguistic and other divisions.

Hamidullah Fitrat, deputy Taliban spokesperson, said in a Sunday press release that Hanafi made the remarks at an event marking the anniversary of the Soviet withdrawal from Afghanistan. Hanafi stated that Mullah Mohammad Omar, the former Taliban leader, rose up alongside some Mujahideen at the time to liberate the people, establishing the first Taliban emirate and consolidating security.

Hanafi added that following the Saur Revolution coup, thousands of religious scholars were buried alive in deserts and mass graves. He said the subsequent Soviet invasion resulted in millions of Afghans becoming martyrs, wounded, disabled, homeless or refugees. Despite this, he asserted, Afghans never accepted the invasion, resisted Soviet forces and drove them from the country.

The comments come as Yaqub Mujahid, Taliban defense minister, urged members of the group at the 37th anniversary ceremony of the Soviet withdrawal to refrain from ethnic and linguistic prejudices.

The Hasht-e Subh report notes that prejudices related to language, religion, ethnicity and gender have increased in Afghanistan since the Taliban's return to power.