Former Afghan VP Khalili warns against ‘targeted attacks’ on Hazara community

Kabul [Afghanistan], June 14 (ANI): Former Vice President Mohammad Karim Khalili on Sunday warned that the people will “attempt anything” to ensure their safety if the government does not prevent “targeted attacks against Hazara community” as well as other injustices in the country after two blasts occurred in the west of Kabul.

Khalili, who addressed a gathering of religious scholars and lawmakers from the Hazara community, said the recent attacks in the west of Kabul are “genocide,” crime against humanity and an attempt to delete the identity of the Hazara community, reporte Tolo News.

He asked the international community not to stay silent against “such crimes.”

“They conduct targeted bombings and suicide bombings against one ethnic group and one people to remove the identity of (these) people,” Khalili said, referring to recent targeted attacks on the Hazara community.

The two blasts in Kabul on Saturday afternoon killed seven people, all civilians, most of whom were from the Hazara community. Two similar blasts occurred earlier this month, killing nearly a dozen people, all from the same community, reported Tolo News.

The Afghanistan Human Rights Commission, citing its assessments on some recent terrorist attacks in Kabul, said that the Hazara community in Afghanistan is vulnerable to “genocide,” reiterating that such targeted killings require comprehensive and deep investigations by an international team that should be picked by the UN.

Since mid-May, at least five attacks were conducted in Kabul in which the majority of the victims were from the Hazara community: One included the attack on Sayed al-Shuhada High School in the west of Kabul that killed over 90 people, almost all of whom were students; two blasts targeted city buses in the west of Kabul on Tuesday; and two explosions in the west of Kabul on Thursday targeted a Corolla-model car and a minivan, killing nine civilians, all from the same community, reported Tolo News.

“We seek cooperation from the National Security Council, the United Nations, our international allies as well as the government in this matter,” Khalili said, referring to recent attacks in the west of Kabul.

Lawmakers from Kabul said the security forces are too few to provide safety for the residents in the capital.

Figures provided by some MPs show that at least 40 major targeted attacks have been carried out in the west of Kabul in the last two years. (ANI)