Afghanistan: Taliban 'Blows Up' Statue of Shiite Militia Leader

Abdul Ali Mazari was killed in 1996, under the Sunni Taliban's previous rule.

Photos doing the rounds of social media on Wednesday, show that the Taliban have “blown up” a statue of a Shiite militia leader.

(Photo Courtesy: Twitter/Saleem Javed, altered by The Quint)

Photos doing the rounds of social media on Wednesday, show that the Taliban have “blown up” a statue of a Shiite militia leader. Abdul Ali Mazari, the militia leader depicted in the statue, had fought against the Taliban during Afghanistan’s civil war in the 1990s.

Abdul Ali Mazari, was a champion of Afghanistan's ethnic Hazara minority, Shiites. He was killed in 1996, under the Sunni Taliban's previous rule, reported The Associated Press.

PREVIOUSLY

Previously, in 2001, the Taliban blew up two 1,500-year-old statues of Buddha carved into a mountain in the same central Bamyan province where the recent incident took place. The Taliban had then claimed that the Buddha statues violated Islam’s prohibition of idol-worship.

This was shortly before the United Stated had invaded Afghanistan.

BACKGROUND

Taliban seized control of Afghanistan on Sunday evening, with the Afghan President Ashraf Ghani fleeing the war-torn country.

Video footage of Taliban commanders and armed militants moving within the walls of the presidential palace was broadcast by international media organisations on Sunday evening.

Meanwhile, swarms of people attempted to escape the impending Taliban rule, as is apparent from the visuals of panic, fear and chaos that emerged from the crowded airport of Kabul.

The Taliban's spokesperson, Zabihullah Mujahid, meanwhile, reportedly told the media in Kabul on Tuesday that the security of foreign embassies is important to Taliban and they will be completely safe.

Further, speaking to Britain's Sky News, Suhail Shaheen, spokesman for Taliban's political office in Doha said: "The burqa is not the only hijab (headscarf) that (can) be observed. There are different types of hijab, not limited to burqa."

(With inputs from The Associated Press.)