Name? Zabiullah Mujahid
Westphalian identity? Afghan
Age? 43
Why is he in the news? He is really only a representative of the situation in Afghanistan as he is the only one to give us agency for the events unfolding. Today marked the second major attack on Shia worshippers in Afghanistan this week, increasing the casualties to 78 people. All Zabiullah Mujahid had to offer were condolences.
Why do we care? When the Taliban took over Afghanistan many Afghans were not pleased by the proposed lifestyle, but they had hope that the days of attacks were finally over. Well, now that the Taliban are no longer attacking, the Islamic State-Khorasan, the Afghanistan and Pakistan arm of the Islamic State, is taking over that role.
Why should you care? The Taliban also collected guns from anyone not of their own, this included the security personnel guarding shia mosques until two months ago. Now that Shia mosques are under threat of ISIS (they view Shia Muslims as heretics), voices asking whether the Taliban are able to ensure security are becoming louder as well as questions about the disarmament of the security guards. Even though Afghanistan has disappeared from the daily news, you should still care 6/10 about the security situation in Afghanistan.
Who else cares? Jalaluddin Haqqani as he is the link between the Taliban and the IS-Khorasan. He created the Haqqani network through which both organisations coordinated attacks against the Afghan government and the NATO alliance. Admittedly, he is dead, so he does not care too much anymore. This shows that the demons the Taliban created in the past are now coming to hunt them today, as most IS-Khorasan members are former Taliban who believe the Taliban are no longer extreme enough.
Any further comments? Meanwhile, Zabiullah Mujahid announced that China was willing to invest billions into Afghanistan and that Afghanistan was ready for it. Let’s see if China is really investing if the security situation remains unstable.
