Hezbe Wahdat
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Hezb-e Wahdat-e Islami Afghanistan is a political party in Afghanistan. Translation in English: The Islamic Unity Party of Afghanistan (also referred to as the Wahdat, Unity), largest Shia political group in Afghanistan. It mainly consists of the ethnic Hazara people who defended themselves against the attacks of the former government during Afghanistan's civil war in the early 1990's. The political group was also a motive to unite the 9 smaller factions of Hazara and Shia political groups that were fighting amongst each other during and after the Soviet invasion (1980-1990).
The ideological leader of this party was Ustad Abdul Ali Mazari, who was tricked and taken captive during a negotiation by the Taliban, and was tortured and killed by them in March of 1995, along with 12 of his closet men. His body was carried on foot by his supporters from the central province of Ghazni to the northern province of Balkh, where Ustad Mazari was laid to rest in the city of Mazari Sharif.
The Wahdat party helped with the Afghan resistance in defeating the Soviet invasion. They then helped overthrow the Communist government in Kabul led by Soviet-puppet, Najibullah. When a new government was forced into Kabul led by warlords of the Jamiat-e-Islami Afghanistan party, Wahdat was denied any political positions within the cabinet. A massacre in 1993 took place in the west Kabul district of Afshar and Karteh Sakhi where nearly 1,000 Hazara women, men and children were tortured and killed, reported by Amnesty International. The genocide was conducted under the orders of then former President Rabbani, his closet ally Ahmad Shah Massoud and militant wahabi leader, Abdul Rasul Sayyaf.
Recently, after the installment of a new government in Afghanistan, following the post-September 11th battles defeating the Taliban, Wahdat has finally been given rights in Afghan Politics.
Hezbe Wahdat faction is mainly comprised of Hazaras, a minority ethnic group in Afghanistan. People often use Hezbe Wahdat and Hazara interchangeably although all Hazaras are not part of Hezbe Wahdat. Hazaras comprise about 20% to 25% of Afghan population according to recent estimates. They are predominantly Shia. Their recent leader Ustad Abdul Ali Mazari has been killed, by the Taliban sometime around 1995.
During the old monarchy (Zahir Shah's government), the Hazaras were treated as second-class citizens, and for hundred of years were an oppressed minority group.
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