ABWA Official Website – Regarding the consecutive assassinations of Shiite ulama and clerics in Herat, Hojat al-Islam Sayed Isa Hosseini Mazari, the head of Afghanistan’s Tebyan Cultural Center, stated, “There have been more cases of assassination of Afghan Shiite ulama in Herat province than in other provinces of the country. These assassinations, which were precedented during the period of the Republic of Afghanistan, were recently followed by three other terrorist incidents against Afghan Shiite ulama in Herat. First, last month, a Shiite scholar was martyred in Herat. A few days ago, two other Shiite scholars were assassinated in this province. Two days ago, two other Shiite clerics along with four civilians were assassinated during an armed attack in Herat.”
Also, about the perpetrators of the recent assassinations in Herat, the Afghan member of the General Assembly of the AhlulBayt (a.s.) World Assembly said, “No group has yet claimed responsibility for this terrorist operations. Herat’s security officials also have not yet provided any explanation regarding the perpetrators of the attacks and only sufficed to say that they are trying to find the perpetrators of the Herat attack and stressing their arrest and punishment. In my opinion, the successive attacks on the Shiite clerics in Herat are, on the one hand, the enemy’s attempt to create discord among Shiites and Sunni communities in Afghanistan, and on the other hand, they want to create discord between the country’s Shiite community and the government of the Islamic Emirates. That is, some are trying to create differences in the Afghan society with such actions and incite people’s feelings against the Islamic Emirate.”
“Various groups seek to incite the Afghan Shiite community against the country’s government. Because currently, Shiites throughout Afghanistan have a good interaction with the Islamic Emirates and the government has a good relationship with the Shiites. We encourage both the Islamic Emirates and the Shiites of Afghanistan to strengthen these ties. But the solution that the opponents see to incite the Shiites of Afghanistan against the Islamic Emirates to achieve their desired goals is carrying out assassinations,” he added.
On the possible role of the Taliban in the assassination of Shiite ulama in Herat, Mazari said, “Some want to imply that the government is involved in these assassinations. While I think it is very unlikely that the government do something that undermines its macro-management. In the current situation, it is wrong to speculate on this matter, and the Islamic Emirates does not do such a thing. Therefore, these assassinations are perpetrated by the opponents and enemies.”
“Some are trying to undermine the relationship between the Islamic Republic of Iran and the Islamic Emirates. Because in any case the Shiites of Afghanistan are known to be related to Iran. According to the enemies, it is necessary to put pressure on the Shiites of Afghanistan, and create wars and massacres to incite Iran, and thereby Iran put pressure on the Islamic Emirates to support the Shiites of Afghanistan. This is the opinion of the opponents. They plan to use assassinations as an excuse to achieve their goal,” he continued.
“The solution to put an end to the assassination of Afghan Shiite ulama and clerics is the attention of the security bodies of the Islamic Emirates to the issue. The perpetrators of these assassinations must be dealt with seriously. The Islamic Emirates’ approach to this issue should not be the same as the approach of the former government of Afghanistan [Government of the Republic of Afghanistan]. At that time, the leads were not clear, and if the perpetrators of the assassinations were caught, they were not punished and executed. Rather, the perpetrators of Herat’s assassinations should be severely punished, and the people of Afghanistan should be informed about this so that they can feel peace and the establishment of order and security. In this regard, the people of Afghanistan also need to seriously cooperate with the security bodies,” noted the Afghan member of the General Assembly of the AhlulBayt (a.s.) World Assembly clarified at the end of his speech.
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