Afghanistan: April 7, 2002

Archives

Mass graves were found in northern Afghanistan. The victims were Hazara people, who have long been persecuted by the Pushtuns. The Taliban added religious hatred (the Hazara don't practice the same flavor of Islam as the Pushtuns) to the ancient ethnic animosities (the Hazara are descended from medieval Mongol invaders). The murders apparently occurred a month before the Taliban government fell in late 2001. There were rumors of mass killings of Hazara by Taliban troops who feared the Hazara would join the battle against them. 

 

X

ad

Help Keep Us From Drying Up

We need your help! Our subscription base has slowly been dwindling.

Each month we count on your contributions. You can support us in the following ways:

  1. Make sure you spread the word about us. Two ways to do that are to like us on Facebook and follow us on Twitter.
  2. Subscribe to our daily newsletter. We’ll send the news to your email box, and you don’t have to come to the site unless you want to read columns or see photos.
  3. You can contribute to the health of StrategyPage.
Subscribe   Contribute   Close