In a nation worn down by war,Isis’s ability to turn latent divisions into bloody slaughter should not be underestimatedAfghanistan’s 16-year war has largely been fought between the Taliban and a regime in Kabul backed by the US and Nato forces. The battle between the two was understood to be political, not sectarian. The Taliban considered a war between Muslims counterproductive to establishing an Islamic emirate. However the bombing of a Shia cultural centre in Kabul by Isis’s Afghan arm marks a modern low of vicious identity violence.
The blast took place in a part of west Kabul that is domestic to large numbers of Hazara, and a largely Shia minority. Hazaras had been sidelined for generations and lived in fear of being massacred by the majority Pashtuns. However,the US invasion of Afghanistan in 2001 changed their fate. Hazaras now routinely top university admissions examinations, and within a decade nearly half of the community’s girl students were passing university exams. Hazaras do not gain political power but they are rising.
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Source: guardian.co.uk