On August 8, 1998, at the height of the Taliban's war with the Northern Alliance forces in Afghanistan, following the collapse of the defensive lines of Mazar-i-Sharif, which were made up of forces from the Islamic Unity Party, Islamic Society, National Islamic Movement, and some commanders from Gulbuddin Hekmatyar's Islamic Party, the Taliban entered Mazar-i-Sharif. In addition to executing eight Iranian diplomats and one journalist, they massacred the residents of the city, mainly Hazaras and Shias, over the course of three days and nights.
Mullah Abdul Manan Niazi and Mullah Fazil Mazloom, commanders of the Taliban forces that attacked Mazar-i-Sharif, ordered the massacre after the city’s capture. According to a Human Rights Watch report, more than 2,000 people were killed in three days and nights, while local sources put the number between 8,000 to 10,000, most of whom were Hazaras and Shias. During this massacre, eight Iranian diplomats and one journalist were also shot and killed at the Iranian consulate in the city.
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| Mullah Abdul Manan Niazi in Herat, 2016 |
Mullah Abdul Manan Niazi, who split from the Taliban leadership council in Pakistan in 2015 and created a splinter faction, continued his efforts to target Hazaras and Shias until he was killed in an internal clash in early 2021. In a February 2020 interview with the author of this article, Niazi said that when his forces captured Mazar-i-Sharif in August 1998, he personally ordered the massacre of the Hazaras. Niazi claimed that he meant only "those Hazaras who were mercenaries for Iran" and that the order was not general. Mullah Abdul Manan Niazi also admitted to his involvement in the killing of the eight Iranian diplomats and one journalist in Mazar-i-Sharif. Despite the previous Afghan government's awareness of Niazi's record and the sufficient documentation available, no effort was made to bring him to trial. Instead, Afghan security agencies attempted to provide military resources and money to Niazi to use him against the Taliban leadership council.
Upon entering Mazar-i-Sharif, Mullah Abdul Manan Niazi delivered a sermon at the shrine attributed to Imam Ali in the center of Mazar-i-Sharif, where he declared "The Hazaras are not Muslims. They are infidels. The Hazaras killed our forces here, and now we must kill the Hazaras." A year before this massacre, after the Taliban briefly took control of Mazar-i-Sharif under an agreement with General Abdul Malik, the deputy of the National Islamic Movement, they faced a popular uprising that killed hundreds of Taliban members in street battles. In this uprising, General Abdul Malik also turned against the Taliban and ordered his forces to scatter them. The Taliban, having suffered a heavy blow, retreated to Kunduz to regroup.
A year later, the Taliban launched a massive offensive, breaking through Mazar-i-Sharif's defensive lines and entering a city from which they had previously suffered severe losses. The commander of the Taliban forces ordered harsh revenge on the people, especially the Hazaras and Shias. During this period, the Iranian diplomats and journalist present at the consulate were executed by a group of Taliban members. At the time, Iran supported the Northern Alliance forces that opposed the Taliban. Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates had recognized the Taliban as the official government, but Iran refused to do so. In this interview, Mullah Manan Niazi described Iran as the enemy of Afghanistan and said that if given the chance, he would continue to target Iran.
Among those killed in Mazar-i-Sharif were members of the Islamic Unity Party (Hizb-e-Wahdat) and some military commanders from other factions, including the Islamic Society and the National Islamic Movement. However, according to witnesses, the Taliban's focus during the three-day massacre was on the Hazaras and Shias living in Mazar-i-Sharif and surrounding villages. Mullah Manan Niazi believed that part of Afghanistan's Shia community followed the Iranian government, and he considered these individuals enemies.
Mohammad Mohaqeq, leader of the Islamic Unity Party of the People of Afghanistan, who commanded the party's forces during the defense of Mazar-i-Sharif, told me that the massacre in Mazar-i-Sharif was a clear example of ethnic cleansing and full-scale genocide. According to him, the Taliban, following orders from Mullah Omar, declared Hazaras and Shias as infidels and targeted individuals based on their ethnicity and religious beliefs.
During the 20-year period of the Republic's government in Afghanistan, aside from a few investigations by human rights organizations, no action was taken to prosecute those responsible for the Mazar-i-Sharif massacre. Mohammad Mohaqeq expressed concern, stating that the lack of accountability for the Taliban’s mass killings of Hazaras in Mazar-i-Sharif and Yakawlang, the burning of homes in Darah Sof, Sancharak, Bamiyan, and other Hazara-populated areas, as well as the massacres of the past two years in Andarab and Panjshir, has emboldened the Taliban to continue their suppression of non-Pashtun ethnic groups without fear of consequences.
Link to the audio version of the interview with Mullah Abdul Manan Niazi.👇
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