Afghanistan’s supreme leader yesterday again called for the international community to recognize the Taliban government, saying the world had become a “small village” and proper diplomatic relations would help solve the country’s problems.
His comments came a day after two bomb blasts aboard minibuses killed at least nine people in Afghanistan’s Mazar-i-Sharif. The attacks, claimed by the Islamic State (IS) group, follow a deadly explosion at a Shiite mosque in the city last week.
No nation has formally recognized the Taliban-installed government after they seized power in August last year and reintroduced Islamist rule, which is increasingly excluding women from public life.
Photo: EPA-EFE
In a written message ahead of the Eid al-Fitr holiday that marks the end of Ramadan, supreme leader Hibatullah Akhundzada did not mention international sticking points — including reopening secondary schools for girls.
Instead, he said recognition should come first “so that we may address our problems formally and within diplomatic norms and principles.”
“Undoubtedly, the world has transformed into a small village,” said Akhundzada, who has not been seen in public for years and lives reclusively in Kandahar, the Taliban’s spiritual heartland.
“Afghanistan has its role in world peace and stability. According to this need, the world should recognize the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan,” he said.
His Eid al-Fitr message came as the country has been rocked by a series of bomb blasts, some claimed by a local Sunni IS group and targeting Shiites.
Akhundzada made no mention of insecurity, but said the country had been able to build “a strong Islamic and national army,” as well as “a strong intelligence organization.”
Thursday’s blasts occurred within minutes of each other in different districts of Mazar-i-Sharif, as commuters were heading home to break their dawn-to-dusk fast, Balkh provincial police spokesman Asif Waziri said.
“The targets appear to be Shiite passengers,” he said, adding that 13 people were wounded in the blasts.
The regional IS affiliate Islamic State Khorasan Province took credit for the bombings, which it said inflicted 30 casualties.
Images posted on social media showed one minibus engulfed in fire, while the other was mangled, with Taliban fighters seen transporting victims from the vehicle to hospitals.
The blasts came one week after an attack on a Shiite mosque in Mazar-i-Sharif killed at least 12 worshipers and wounded scores more.
That explosion was followed a day later by the bombing of another mosque in Kunduz targeting the minority Sufi community.
It killed at least 36 people during Friday prayers.
In Kabul, another attack also targeted Shiites, with two bombs detonated at a school, killing six students.
The IS claimed the mosque attack in Mazar-i-Sharif, but no group has so far taken responsibility for the bombing in Kunduz or at the Kabul school.
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