By forcibly returning to power in mid-August 2021, the Taliban undoubtedly thought they were cleaning up the past. Afghanistan must never again resemble the country ruled for 20 years by the previous Western-backed regime, they say. However, if they promised the end of all violence in their territory, it is not. And when they announced the pacification of relations with neighboring Pakistan, they quickly became as conflicted as under previous Afghan governments.
On Tuesday, April 19, two explosions hit the Abdul Rahim Shahid school for boys, located west of Kabul, a district mainly inhabited by members of the Hazara Shia community, often targeted by the Islamic State (IS) organization. In the evening, the report revealed: “At least six dead and 24 injured”† Two homemade bombs were placed in front of the establishment. A first explosion occurred just as the classes were leaving, leaving bodies in pools of blood and charred books, according to local media footage.
The second explosion occurred while first responders were on the scene. Finally, in the same neighborhood, a grenade was thrown against the building of a language school. This Shia neighborhood was the target of IS attacks before the Taliban returned to power. In May 2021, an explosive attack killed 85, mostly high school students, and injured more than 300. In October 2020, an explosion killed 24 students and in May of the same year, another attack on a maternity hospital killed 25 people, including 16 mothers.
Threat Minimized
Afghan Islamists, who ensured that this violence would stop once they took over the reins of the country before overthrowing the old regime in Kabul, are minimizing the threat from IS for the time being. They relentlessly prey on its members both in the capital and in the provinces where this group has relays, particularly in Nangarhar, in the northwest of the country. Nevertheless, according to Western intelligence, the EI’s jihadists seem to continue to agglomerate the “lost soldiers” of Pakistani-Afghan Islamism and the Taliban who violate the ban. They represent the main security challenge facing the Taliban force today.
The other pitfall for the Taliban regime, on the other hand, is more unexpected. On April 16, heavy gunfire from the Pakistani army and helicopter strikes hit Afghan villages near the Pakistani border. According to Taliban officials, this attack caused: “about fifty dead”, mainly women and children, and about twenty injured. Footage of houses destroyed in the attack was broadcast by Tolo News, Afghanistan’s main private broadcaster, which said it included four villages in Khost province. Hundreds of people demonstrated in the city of Khost and the region, chanting anti-Pakistani slogans.
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