CAIRO, September 12. /TASS/. Leaders of Afghanistan’s Shia community demand their representatives be included in the country’s new government that has been formed by the Taliban (outlawed) who seized power in the country, the Kandahar-based Taand newspaper reported on Sunday.
According to the newspaper, tens of Shia representatives met on Sunday with Afghanistan’s former President Hamid Karzai, who is a member of a coordinating council for the peaceful transfer of power.
It was Karzai’s second meeting with the Shia in the recent days. On September 9, Karzai wrote on his Twitter account that he had held consultations with Afghanistan’s Shia Ulema Council to discuss ways of ensuring lasting peace and stability in the country.
Meanwhile, according to the newspaper, representatives of the religious minority asked Karzai to ensure their rights and participation in state governance.
Earlier, the former president said that each Afghan nationals, including women, enjoyed the right to have a say in the governance of the country and called on the Taliban to reckon with it in their government.
The Shia account for not more than ten percent of the Afghan population and are mostly represented by the Hazara, who live in the country’s central and northern provinces.
After the Biden administration announced the end of its US military operation in Afghanistan and the launch of its troop pullout, the Taliban embarked on an offensive against Afghan government forces. On August 15, Taliban fighters swept into Kabul without encountering any resistance and gained full control over the Afghan capital within a few hours. Afghanistan’s President Ashraf Ghani said he had stepped down to prevent any bloodshed and subsequently fled the country. On September 6, the Taliban said it had taken control of the entire country and announced a new interim government on the following day. The government is formed by Taliban members only, who mostly represent the biggest ethnic group in Afghanistan, the Pushtu.
Several Western nations have expressed concern over the composition of Afghanistan’s new cabinet. Meanwhile, Habib-ur-Rahman Hekmatyar, chief of the Hezb-e-Islami party headquarters, told TASS that the new government, announced by the Taliban, is the optimal variant for Afghanistan under the present-day conditions.