**RESURGENT TALIBAN, AND A NEW WAVE OF ETHNO-SECTARIAN VIOLENCE? **
After a period of relative peace following the overthrow of the Taliban regime by the US-led military intervention in 2001, the security situation in Afghanistan has been steadily deteriorating. Hazaras are becoming one of the primary targets of a new wave of violence. Many Hazaras saw in the ideas of a liberal democratic state, which was promised by the international intervention, a prospect for ending their long history of persecution and marginalisation.
However, as the Afghan government’s control over its territories and population shrink and international interest in the country remains uncertain, the Hazaras are also coming under increasing attacks from the Taliban, the Islamic State, and other armed groups.
In recent years, hundreds of Hazaras have died in deliberate attacks on their mosques, cultural and educational institutions, and community centres.
This talk will address these threats facing the Hazaras, assess the drivers of these attacks, and discuss what these attacks mean for the future of Hazaras and Afghanistan.
