The Middle East Research Institute recently published its findings on the ethnic composition of the Taliban regime. The research shows that among the 1,137 leaders and high-ranking officials, 87 belong to the Tajik, Uzbek, and Hazara ethnic groups. Several political figures and prominent individuals in the country argue that none of the non-Pashtun members of the Taliban regime represent the Tajik, Uzbek, and Hazara communities. They claim these individuals work as hired soldiers for the Taliban and lack the authority to influence the group’s decisions.
Abdul Zahir Salangi, a former representative of Parwan province in the previous parliament, told the Hasht-e Subh Daily: “Some Tajik brothers might be part of the Taliban regime, but this does not mean they represent the literary, cultural, ethical, and historical diversity of the Tajik ethnicity. Naturally, every regime and group needs soldiers; these figures are soldiers of the Taliban group.” Mr. Salangi added: “The Taliban, a group that has occupied Afghanistan, cannot represent not only other ethnic groups but also the large Pashtun tribe. They have taken away the people’s right to raise their voices, demand their rights, and choose or be chosen as the leader of the country.”
Habiba Sarabi, a member of the former government’s peace negotiation team with the Taliban, regarding the half-percent presence of Hazaras in the Taliban regime, said: “First, the half-percent presence of Hazaras in the Taliban’s hegemony is very insignificant considering the ethnic diversity in Afghanistan. Secondly, those who are from the Hazara ethnic group with the Taliban cannot meet the expectations and demands of the Hazara people.” Ms. Sarabi added: “Not all Hazara people agree with Taliban ideologies. The Hazara people are detained, tortured, insulted, and humiliated under the Taliban’s rule, but those who are from the Hazara ethnic group in the Taliban regime can never support these individuals. Therefore, they cannot represent the Hazara ethnic group.”
Similarly, Abdullah Qarluq, deputy leader of the National Islamic Movement of Afghanistan and former governor of Takhar province, said: “There are a few symbolic Uzbek individuals in the ranks of the Taliban who joined them at the beginning and share the Taliban’s ideology and policies. No educated and specialized Uzbek person is in the ranks of the Taliban.”
The Middle East Research Institute, on June 11, 2024, published a detailed report on the leaders and high-ranking officials of the Taliban. The report states that among the 1,137 high-ranking officials of the Taliban, 891 are Pashtun, and 87 are from Tajik, Uzbek, and Hazara ethnic groups.
According to the institute’s findings, 53 Tajiks, 28 Uzbeks, and 6 Hazaras are among the leaders and high-ranking officials of the Taliban. Nooruddin Azizi, the Taliban’s Minister of Commerce & Industries, Qari Din Mohammad Hanif, the Taliban’s Minister of Economy, and Fasihuddin Fitrat, the Taliban’s Chief of the General Staff of the Armed Forces, are from the Tajik ethnic group. Abdul Salam Hanafi, Deputy Administrative Chief of the Taliban’s Prime Minister’s Office, and Attaullah Omari, Taliban’s Minister of Agriculture, Irrigation and Livestock, are from the Uzbek ethnic group.
The report states that among the six Hazara officials in the Taliban, five are deputy ministers in various ministries, and one is appointed as a director. Thus, five percent of the high-ranking Taliban officials are Tajik, three percent are Uzbek, and half a percent are Hazara.
The report’s findings show that among the Taliban officials, 40 top leaders, including the supreme leader, the Prime Minister, and the Ministers of Defense, Higher Education, Education, Culture, Rural Development, Labor and Social Affairs, Public Works, and the Chief Justice, are from Kandahar province. Nineteen other leaders, including the Minister of Interior, Deputy Political Chief of the Taliban’s Prime Minister’s Office, Minister of Energy and Water, and Minister of Refugees and Repatriation, are from Paktia province. There are no Hazara individuals in the group’s cabinet.
According to the Middle East Research Institute, five members of the Taliban leadership, including Khaled Hanafi, Minister of Propagation of Virtue and Prevention of Vice, are from the Pashai ethnic group. Hamdullah Nomani, Taliban’s Minister of Urban Development and Housing, is from the Baloch ethnic group, and three other officials, including the Deputy Chief Justice of the regime, Mohammad Qasim Rasikh, are from the Turkmen ethnic group.
You can read the Persian version of this daily report here:
