Fearing ISIL, Afghanistan’s Shiites seek help from former foes

As ISIL gains a foothold in war-weary Afghanistan, old enemies are forging new alliances to ward off the militant threat.

KABUL // Even by Afghanistan’s standards of shifting alliances, a recent meeting between ethnic Hazara elders and local commanders of the Taliban insurgents who have persecuted them for years was extraordinary.

The Hazaras – a largely Shiite minority killed in their thousands during the Taliban’s hardline Sunni rule of the 1990s – came to their old enemies seeking protection against what they deemed an even greater threat: masked men operating in the area calling themselves “Daesh”, a term for ISIL in the region.

In a sign of changing times, the Taliban commanders agreed to help, said Abdul Khaliq Yaqubi, one of the elders at the meeting held in the eastern province of Ghazni.

The unusual pact is a window into deepening anxiety in Afghanistan over reports of ISIL gaining a foothold in a country already weary of more than a decade of war with the Taliban.

Back-to-back kidnappings within a month of two groups of Hazara travellers – by men widely rumoured, though not proven, to claim fealty to the extremist group – have many spooked.

The current threat ISIL poses in Afghanistan, observers say, is less about real military might than the opportunity for disparate insurgent groups, including defectors from an increasingly fractured Taliban, to band together under this global “brand” that controls swathes of Iraq and Syria.

The fear is especially keen among religious minorities such as the Hazaras, who worry the influence of the fiercely anti-Shiite ISIL could introduce a new dimension of sectarian strife to the war.

“Whether Daesh exists or not, the psychological impact of it is very dangerous in Ghazni, which is home to all ethnicities,” the province’s deputy governor Mohammad Ali Ahmadi said.

“This could easily stir up tensions.”

Unlike in Iraq or Syria, ISIL controls no Afghan territory and operational links between local fighters and the group’s leadership are murky.

But reports of self-proclaimed ISIL fighters have been growing since last summer. In Kandahar, the Taliban’s birthplace, there have been reports of clashes between alleged ISIL fighters and local Taliban.

The UN secretary general Ban Ki-moon’s latest report on Afghanistan said a handful of Taliban commanders had declared allegiance to ISIL and were increasingly seeking funding or cooperation from the group.

But it added there was “no indication of widespread or systematic support” for Afghan fighters from ISIL leaders in the Middle East.

Some say ISIL’s intolerant stance towards Shiites leaves them with less traction in Afghanistan, where large-scale sectarian violence has been relatively rare since the Taliban lost power.

The Afghan government says group does pose a problem.

President Ashraf Ghani publicly acknowledged for the first time on Saturday that ISIL was gaining influence in Afghanistan.

“Daesh’s characteristic is that it is man-eating. It swallows its competitors,” Mr Ghani said at a news conference ahead of his visit to the United States. “Here, it is not physical presence of people from Syria or Iraq. It is the network effect.”

“The simple thing is that Daesh is here, and they do exist,” said Ajmal Abidy, Afghan president Ashraf Ghani’s spokesman.

The International Crisis Group (ICG) in Kabul cited reliable reports that small groups of self-described ISIL fighters were operating in six provinces, plus unconfirmed rumours of dozens of members operating in several others.

For now, whatever support ISIL has appears to reflect divisions within the larger, stronger Taliban insurgency, said Graeme Smith, an ICG analyst.

But, he added, “It’s a moving target ... Just because it’s not militarily significant today doesn’t mean that can’t change.”

On March 15, gunmen stopped two cars in Ghazni’s Jaghori district, a predominantly Hazara area, and kidnapped eight passengers.

All but one were quickly released, but the incident came just weeks after masked gunmen singled out about 30 Hazaras from two buses in Zabul province and took them hostage.

Despite an ongoing rescue operation by Afghan security forces, none have been freed.

Last week, hundreds of Hazara protesters gathered in Ghazni’s capital city to demand the hostages’ release.

Although no one has claimed responsibility for either attack, many Hazaras – short on answers and scared – blamed ISIL.

“Daesh is a very dangerous phenomenon,” said Ahmad Ali, who took part in the protests.

The general anxiety led the Hazara elders from three villages in Jaghori district of Ghazni to arrange their unusual meeting with the local Taliban.

“The Taliban did not kidnap our Hazara brothers in the past, and we know they also fight this new group, Daesh,” said Hasan Reza Yousufi, a member of Ghazni’s provincial council.

Mr Yaqubi, one of the elders who attended the meeting, said the group had approached the militants seeking protection.

“The Taliban agreed to help,” he said.

At a crowded bus station on Kabul’s outskirts, people lined up to buy tickets to make trips along the dangerous roads outside the city that have long seen Taliban attacks – and now, many fear, targeted kidnappings.

“Since the kidnapping of the passengers, we have less Hazara travellers,” said bus driver Mohammad Jan.

“The ones who do travel seem very scared.”

* Reuters