Situation, Facts and Events
07.09.2022
Alarm: scholars close to the taliban are hunted
The reason for the deadly attack on the Guzargah mosque in Herat, which killed the famous cleric Mujib ur-Rahman Ansari, could be his active support of the Taliban (banned in Russia).
Such assumptions were made by the sources of the Afghanistan.Ru portal, drawing attention to the fact that this terrorist attack plays into the hands of the Afghan branch of Daesh (banned in Russia).
This is the second murder of a clergyman close to the current government in recent weeks. Experts believe that by a series of attacks the radicals want to send a signal to the current authorities in Kabul and demonstrate the vulnerability of their positions.
One of the former members of the Afghan parliament expressed Confidence that IS supporters are behind the explosion in the Afghan province of Herat in a conversation with the Afghanistan.ru portal. According to him, it is obvious that the main target of the attack was Ansari, who, most likely, was identified by the radicals as a target after the cleric during a meeting of the ulema in Kabul advocated a fatwa on the destruction of any force opposing the Taliban movement that came to power a year ago.
“Today, the most powerful enemy of the Taliban is ISIS,” a source told Afghanistan.ru, who wished to remain anonymous. “Therefore, then (at a meeting of the ulema. – approx. “Afghanistan.Ru”) Ansari pronounced a sentence on himself.”
The attack on the Herat mosque, which claimed the lives of about 20 people, continued a series of bloody terrorist attacks that shook religious sites in Afghanistan in recent period.
Eyewitnesses say the suicide bomber set off an explosive device when he was close to Ansari, approaching him to kiss his hand.
The deceased became the second cleric close to the Taliban to be assassinated in recent months. Thus, in August, as a result of an attack on a madrasah in the Shash Darak district, the preacher Rahimullah Haqqani, one of the most famous loyalists of the current government in Kabul, was killed. Members of the local Daesh branch claimed responsibility for the explosion.
The latest attack was condemned by politicians who remained in Kabul, including Hamid Karzai and Abdullah Abdullah. However, by all indications, the situation around the terrorist attack in Herat has gone beyond domestic politics. This was demonstrated at least by the sharp international reaction.
Thus, the UN office in Afghanistan condemned the attack. In addition, the attack attracted the attention of the Iranian leadership. In particular, the official representative of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Islamic Republic, Nasser Kanaani, expressed concern about terrorist attacks continuing in Afghanistan. The diplomat stressed that his country supported Kabul in its fight against extremism, violence and terrorism.
Intra-Taliban rivalry
Ansari was considered one of the most influential theologians in Afghanistan. The Imam of the Gozargah Mosque could even be called a nationwide figure, given that his speeches and sermons were broadcast by leading TV channels and radio stations. In this regard, the clergyman had a considerable group of supporters outside the province of Herat.
Ansari was not afraid to speak out against the policies of former President Ashraf Ghani’s administration and the approaches pursued by the US-led foreign coalition. After the Taliban took over power in Kabul, the preacher was one of the first to publicly advocate a fatwa to suppress any force “that raises its head” against the Taliban administration.
Ansari was worried about his safety. He was always accompanied by bodyguards, and the congregation was systematically checked before entering the mosque.
However, the Herat scholar was killed under the Taliban, rather than in the era of Hamid Karzai or Ashraf Ghani. In this regard, the assassination attempt can be considered a targeted blow to the current authorities. Observers are already calling the attack the start of a war against pro-Taliban clerics. Deputy minister of information and culture in the interim government Zabihullah Mujahid said that three days before the attack a special group of the main intelligence department staff was sent to Herat to ensure security in the city ahead of the next meeting of the ulema.
It is noteworthy that Ansari was close to Deputy Prime Minister Abdul Ghani Baradar, who is considered the leader of one of the influence groups within the Taliban. That is why the assassination attempt gave rise to versions of the aggravated inter-factional confrontation.
However, the fact that the assassination is a blow to the general image of the Taliban reduces the plausibility of this version to a minimum. At the same time, it is quite plausible that the organizers of the attack expected Baradar himself to visit the mosque at the time of the strike. It is known that the Deputy Prime Minister arrived in Herat on a special visit: Baradar held a meeting on economic issues, during which he announced the launch of the practical phase of the implementation of the TAPI gas pipeline project.
It is possible that after the high-profile assassination, the question will arise as to whether it is possible to implement this and other trans-Afghan projects, which have always been hindered by security issues.
A Perfect Target
Mujib ur-Rahman Ansari condemned all those who oppose the Taliban government, as the senior researcher at IMEMO RAS, expert on religious terrorism and extremism Andrei Yashlavsky said in a conversation with Afghanistan.Ru.
“For their part, the Taliban have already posthumously called him a strong and brave religious theologian,” the analyst said. – For Taliban competitors from among the supporters of the ISIS-Khorasan group (an offshoot of Daesh, banned in Russia. – note by Afghanistan.Ru) Ansari was an ideal target, although there are suggestions on social media that the real target of the attack could be Deputy Prime Minister of the Taliban Administration Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar.”
According to Yashlavsky, it is noteworthy that this is the second case of the murder of a cleric in Afghanistan in recent weeks. “As you know, a well-known cleric Rahimullah Haqqani, who also became famous for his speeches against the Daesh group and its Afghan branch, and, of course, in support of the Taliban movement, was killed as a result of a suicide attack in his madrasah in Kabul in August this year”, the source of Afghanistan.Ru said. – The Afghan branch of Daesh tried to destroy Rahimullah Haqqani more than once. He survived assassination attempts. In particular, in 2020, supporters of this group carried out a terrorist attack in Peshawar, but that attack did not achieve its goal.”
According to the expert, the series of attacks is consistent with the logic of the Khorasan group, which turns both religious figures and entire religious objects into its targets. “Actrually Daesh mostly target Shia mosques and religious objects that are used by Sufis,” Yashlavsky explained. In June, a Sikh temple in Kabul was attacked. But speaking of the last two attacks on Sunni clerics, those were intended to demonstrate the vulnerability of the Taliban’s position and demosntrate that this movement does not have real power if it cannot protect its prominent supporters.
According to the interlocutor of Afghanistan.Ru, this is a demonstrative act of execution of the clergymen who Daesh sees as servants of the Taliban. “In turn, the Taliban government declared Khorasan almost a heretical, apostate movement,” the expert recalled. – The enmity between the two factions that act on the Islamist field continues to deepen. This murder, like the murder of Rahimullah Haqqani, fits into the logic of the actions of extremist Islamists who do not disdain assassination attempts on clerics who do not share their agenda.” Daesh probably intends to show that it will crack down on “apostates” regardless of their status, Yashlavsky concluded.
Source: afghanistan.ru
Such assumptions were made by the sources of the Afghanistan.Ru portal, drawing attention to the fact that this terrorist attack plays into the hands of the Afghan branch of Daesh (banned in Russia).
This is the second murder of a clergyman close to the current government in recent weeks. Experts believe that by a series of attacks the radicals want to send a signal to the current authorities in Kabul and demonstrate the vulnerability of their positions.
One of the former members of the Afghan parliament expressed Confidence that IS supporters are behind the explosion in the Afghan province of Herat in a conversation with the Afghanistan.ru portal. According to him, it is obvious that the main target of the attack was Ansari, who, most likely, was identified by the radicals as a target after the cleric during a meeting of the ulema in Kabul advocated a fatwa on the destruction of any force opposing the Taliban movement that came to power a year ago.
“Today, the most powerful enemy of the Taliban is ISIS,” a source told Afghanistan.ru, who wished to remain anonymous. “Therefore, then (at a meeting of the ulema. – approx. “Afghanistan.Ru”) Ansari pronounced a sentence on himself.”
The attack on the Herat mosque, which claimed the lives of about 20 people, continued a series of bloody terrorist attacks that shook religious sites in Afghanistan in recent period.
Eyewitnesses say the suicide bomber set off an explosive device when he was close to Ansari, approaching him to kiss his hand.
The deceased became the second cleric close to the Taliban to be assassinated in recent months. Thus, in August, as a result of an attack on a madrasah in the Shash Darak district, the preacher Rahimullah Haqqani, one of the most famous loyalists of the current government in Kabul, was killed. Members of the local Daesh branch claimed responsibility for the explosion.
The latest attack was condemned by politicians who remained in Kabul, including Hamid Karzai and Abdullah Abdullah. However, by all indications, the situation around the terrorist attack in Herat has gone beyond domestic politics. This was demonstrated at least by the sharp international reaction.
Thus, the UN office in Afghanistan condemned the attack. In addition, the attack attracted the attention of the Iranian leadership. In particular, the official representative of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Islamic Republic, Nasser Kanaani, expressed concern about terrorist attacks continuing in Afghanistan. The diplomat stressed that his country supported Kabul in its fight against extremism, violence and terrorism.
Intra-Taliban rivalry
Ansari was considered one of the most influential theologians in Afghanistan. The Imam of the Gozargah Mosque could even be called a nationwide figure, given that his speeches and sermons were broadcast by leading TV channels and radio stations. In this regard, the clergyman had a considerable group of supporters outside the province of Herat.
Ansari was not afraid to speak out against the policies of former President Ashraf Ghani’s administration and the approaches pursued by the US-led foreign coalition. After the Taliban took over power in Kabul, the preacher was one of the first to publicly advocate a fatwa to suppress any force “that raises its head” against the Taliban administration.
Ansari was worried about his safety. He was always accompanied by bodyguards, and the congregation was systematically checked before entering the mosque.
However, the Herat scholar was killed under the Taliban, rather than in the era of Hamid Karzai or Ashraf Ghani. In this regard, the assassination attempt can be considered a targeted blow to the current authorities. Observers are already calling the attack the start of a war against pro-Taliban clerics. Deputy minister of information and culture in the interim government Zabihullah Mujahid said that three days before the attack a special group of the main intelligence department staff was sent to Herat to ensure security in the city ahead of the next meeting of the ulema.
It is noteworthy that Ansari was close to Deputy Prime Minister Abdul Ghani Baradar, who is considered the leader of one of the influence groups within the Taliban. That is why the assassination attempt gave rise to versions of the aggravated inter-factional confrontation.
However, the fact that the assassination is a blow to the general image of the Taliban reduces the plausibility of this version to a minimum. At the same time, it is quite plausible that the organizers of the attack expected Baradar himself to visit the mosque at the time of the strike. It is known that the Deputy Prime Minister arrived in Herat on a special visit: Baradar held a meeting on economic issues, during which he announced the launch of the practical phase of the implementation of the TAPI gas pipeline project.
It is possible that after the high-profile assassination, the question will arise as to whether it is possible to implement this and other trans-Afghan projects, which have always been hindered by security issues.
A Perfect Target
Mujib ur-Rahman Ansari condemned all those who oppose the Taliban government, as the senior researcher at IMEMO RAS, expert on religious terrorism and extremism Andrei Yashlavsky said in a conversation with Afghanistan.Ru.
“For their part, the Taliban have already posthumously called him a strong and brave religious theologian,” the analyst said. – For Taliban competitors from among the supporters of the ISIS-Khorasan group (an offshoot of Daesh, banned in Russia. – note by Afghanistan.Ru) Ansari was an ideal target, although there are suggestions on social media that the real target of the attack could be Deputy Prime Minister of the Taliban Administration Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar.”
According to Yashlavsky, it is noteworthy that this is the second case of the murder of a cleric in Afghanistan in recent weeks. “As you know, a well-known cleric Rahimullah Haqqani, who also became famous for his speeches against the Daesh group and its Afghan branch, and, of course, in support of the Taliban movement, was killed as a result of a suicide attack in his madrasah in Kabul in August this year”, the source of Afghanistan.Ru said. – The Afghan branch of Daesh tried to destroy Rahimullah Haqqani more than once. He survived assassination attempts. In particular, in 2020, supporters of this group carried out a terrorist attack in Peshawar, but that attack did not achieve its goal.”
According to the expert, the series of attacks is consistent with the logic of the Khorasan group, which turns both religious figures and entire religious objects into its targets. “Actrually Daesh mostly target Shia mosques and religious objects that are used by Sufis,” Yashlavsky explained. In June, a Sikh temple in Kabul was attacked. But speaking of the last two attacks on Sunni clerics, those were intended to demonstrate the vulnerability of the Taliban’s position and demosntrate that this movement does not have real power if it cannot protect its prominent supporters.
According to the interlocutor of Afghanistan.Ru, this is a demonstrative act of execution of the clergymen who Daesh sees as servants of the Taliban. “In turn, the Taliban government declared Khorasan almost a heretical, apostate movement,” the expert recalled. – The enmity between the two factions that act on the Islamist field continues to deepen. This murder, like the murder of Rahimullah Haqqani, fits into the logic of the actions of extremist Islamists who do not disdain assassination attempts on clerics who do not share their agenda.” Daesh probably intends to show that it will crack down on “apostates” regardless of their status, Yashlavsky concluded.
Source: afghanistan.ru