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Thousands of Afghans flee fighting in Hazara districts
[DAWN] Thousands of Afghans have fled to Ghazni city to escape fighting in two Hazara ...a grouping of Dari-speaking people of Sino-Tibetan descent inhabiting Afghanistan and Pakistain. They are predominantly Shia Moslems and not particularly warlike, which makes them favored targets...-dominated districts, with some describing the violence on Tuesday as the worst they had seen in the 17-year conflict. The Taliban ...Arabic for students... have been battling members of Afghanistan's special forces and ethnic Hazara militia in the previously safe districts of Jaghori and Malistan in the southeastern province of Ghazni for nearly a week. Hundreds of people, including civilians, militia, commandos and bad boys, have been killed, according to figures provided by locals and government officials. Many families have fled to the bustling provincial capital, some leaving their homes in the middle of the night and travelling on side roads to avoid Taliban checkpoints. "We were scared, other people were fleeing so we decided to leave too," said a woman called Zainab, who drove with her five children for 12 hours on dirt roads from her home in Jaghori district to Ghazni city. "We have never seen this kind of war and my children and I were scared," she told AFP, adding that her husband had stayed behind to protect their property. Around 2,000 families displaced by the fighting are living in mosques and hostels in Ghazni city, said Abdul Haleem Noori, director of the Afghan Red Islamic Thingy Society in Ghazni. Posted by: Fred 2018-11-14 |
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