Afshar District
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
 |
This article may require cleanup to meet Wikipedia's quality standards. Please discuss this issue on the talk page or replace this tag with a more specific message. This article has been tagged since February 2007. |
Afshar district is situated on the slopes of mount Afshar in west Kabul. The district is predominantly home to Hazara ethnic group. Afshar first came under international attention when on February 11, 1993, forces loyal to Ahmad Shah Massoud and Abdur Rab Rasul Sayyaf entered the suburb, killing - by local accounts - "up to 1,000 civilians", beheading old men, women, children and even their dogs, stuffing their bodies down the wells. [1]
The events took place as a result of fierce clashes between the forces of Hizb e Wahdat and those of Jamiat Islami and Ittihad Islami. According to Human Rights Watch report credible and consistent accounts from several officials who worked in Shura-e Nazar and the interim government reveal that a military campaign against Hizb e Wahdat was planned and approved by officials at the highest levels of Jamiat and Shura-e Nazar, Ittihad, and the Rabbani government. The operation represented not only the largest and most integrated use of military power but also the worst case of human rights voilation undertaken by the Islamic State of Afghanistan, the Rabbani-led government, up to that time. Another factor in the defeat for Hizb Wahdat forces were the Sayed traitors from within the group. The victims of the Afshar incident ranged from infants to 79 year old men. Corpse littered the streets for several days, some were buried and many were eaten by dogs and stray animals. The booming district turned into a ghost town over night. [2]
Several commanders involved in war crimes and genocide against the residents of Afshar held government offices in the post Taliban transitional and Karzai led government. They include Sayyaf, General Qasim Fahim and most of the commanders loyal to Massoud and Sayyaf.
Today, Afshar resembles a ghost town. Very few of the previous residents have dared to return to their homes.
