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What is your view on Ahmed Shah Massoud ("The Lion of Panjshir")? Was he involved in killings of innocent Hazara Shias?

Pakistani troops killed in ambush near Afghanistan border (aljazeera.com)

So in Ghazni Province, 13 Hazaras (9 men, 4 women) were killed by Taliban fighters. https://www.amnesty.org/en/latest/news/2021/08/afghanistan-taliban-responsible-for-brutal-massacre-of-hazara-men-new-investigation/ I'm not too surprised of this, and the war crimes against Afghanistan's minorities to get worse. I pray from my Hazara brothers and sister, and hope the best for them. But I suppose this is the result of an extremist group that executed up to 15,000 Hazaras during its reign in the 90's. Eternal Prayer to our fellow Shia brothers in Afghanistan.

Grand Ayatollah Mohaqiq Kabuli passes away http://en.abna24.com/news//grand-ayatollah-mohaqiq-kabuli-passes-away_949689.html June 11, 2019 - 3:01 PM News Code : 949689 Source : IQNALink: Ayatollah Qorbanali Mohaqiq Kabuli, an Afghan Shia source of emulation, died at the age of 91. Ahlul Bayt News Agency (ABNA): Ayatollah Qorbanali Mohaqiq Kabuli, an Afghan Shia source of emulation, died at the age of 91. Ayatollah Kabuli, who resided in Iran’s holy city of Qom, died on Tuesday morning. He was born in 1928 into a religious family in Parwan province, near the Afghan capital of Kabul. At the age of 7, he started learning the Qur'an and Persian reading and then Islamic teachings and Arabic literature. Ayatollah Kabuli continued his religious education in Kabul and then left for the holy city of Najaf, Iraq, to study at the prestigious seminary there. He wrote various books on religious studies, including on Fiqh (Islamic jurisprudence). Ayatollah Mohaqiq Kabuli was a prominent member of the Ahlul Bayt World Assembly. http://en.abna24.com/news//grand-ayatollah-mohaqiq-kabuli-passes-away_949689.html

Last words of a Muslim man, who was one of the first victims of the New Zealand Mosque shooter. His two words, his last, exemplify the universal brotherhood of our beautiful faith, our beautiful Islam - “Hello Brother” to the murderous terrorist pointing an assault weapon at him. May God bless all those who fell today in NZ, and also in Syria, Yemen, & Afghanistan, at the hands of the localised and international terrorism. Fateha-

Israel Vows to create two more occupied lands Yemen and Afghanistan are the bulls eye.

امن یجیب المضطر اذا دعاه و یکشف السوء Is He [not best] who responds to the desperate one when he calls upon Him and removes evil al-Naml:62 (a part of the verse) Many might ask what does the word moztar(مضطر) mean, no definition better definition can be given than what I saw in the voice of this man. It is more than 1170 years that our Master(af) is moztar and we live as if nothing is going on and no one is waiting for us to give him a hand for our own salvation.

السَّلاَمُ عَلَيْكُمْ وَرَحْمَةُ اللهِ وَبَرَكَاتُهُ (May Allah Shower His Mercy, Peace & Blessings upon You All) I hope My Shia Muslim Brothers and Shia Muslim Sisters are Living a Good Life by The Grace of Allah. . Alhamdulillah. I would like to know any Information about Turkic (Don't get confused with Turkey),Mongol Shias. And Persian Speaking Turk-o-Mongol Shias. Let me tell you My Lineage first: My Shia Muslim Brothers, I am actually a descendant from a Chagatayid Mughal family of Pakistan. My family lineage traces back to the Turk-O-Mongol Warriors of Genghis Khan -> Chagatai Khan -> Ameer Timur and then Mughal Emperors. As far as I know and I am told, My Ancestors were Sufi Sunnis who followed Hanafi Madhab and Naqshbandi Sufi Chain (and we are still Hanafis to this day). Persian was Mother tongue for centuries. My Grandparents used to speak Persian and my father knew some Persian because of my Grandparents. I know nothing or very little about Persian because of Surroundings. My Family uses Khan, Shah, Chughtai & Changezi as their Surnames. My Ancestors were Weapon Makers and also fought Battles for Mongol Kings. Majority Family lineages in Pakistan are Indian and Afghan. Turk and Mongol families are very very few and rare. If there is any Brother from Subcontinent here who is from Turko-Mongol Lineage and a Shia, then I would like to meet my Cousin . So My question is : Are there any Central Asian Turkic Shia Empires and Mongol Shia Empires? Most Turk and Mongol Empires I find on the Internet are Sunni Hanafi, Not Shia. I am Curious about Shia Turkic and Mongol Empires. And one more, are there any Shia Turk and Shia Mongol empires who later were Persianized or Indianized? I am Curious for Answers May Allah Reward You all for your Answers <3

Suicide bomb in Kabul Shia mosque kills dozens http://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-41699320

From couple of months I am trying to study situation of Afghanistan. There are so many stakeholder involve in Afghanistan and it is hard to understand what exactly are the objectives of different stakeholders. Can some one please briefly explain what is going on in Afghanistan, who are the allies and why? And what is the end goal of different stakeholder in Afghanistan: like America, India, Pakistan, Iran, Afghan Taliban, Afghan Government, Hazara community and Daesh.

Salaam Alaikum sisters and brothers, I come here for explaining about my situation and see other people opinion about my case, I am a 20 y.o guy born in Barcelona, Spain. My background comes from a catholic- but not practicant nor religous family. About 2 years ago I started to become interested about Islam and started to make my own research into in on the net, etc. I also visited a Sunni mosque in Barcelona, where they explained me basis of Islam and some of their Sunni traditions. On a travel to a North European country, I get to know an Afghan girl (Shia muslim) working on her family market, and I showed her my interest on her religion and asked some of my questions about it, she helped me with my issues and yea. I kind of liked the way she was explaining me about her religion, and we kept in contact with each other when I went back to my home city. We became closer and closer with each other, talked about personal life, family, and of course, the religion. About a year ago, I went back to that country, and there, after a year of research about Islam, and figuring out about my beliefs, I became a muslim in the Imam Ali Mosque (largest Shia mosque in Europe). The Imam taught me maaany many things during my stay, I spent lot of my time in the mosque, talking with other brothers, etc. After converting to Muslim, at the begining when I was back home, I was praying on my room, and my family didn't really know anything about about my conversion, since I knew talking or explaining about this to them would be something difficult for them. But I had to explain about all this when Ramadan came, because I wanted to fast and perform it. So I had a serious talk with my family and explained everything about my conversion, about Islam and that I wanted to do Ramadan. At the first days it was very very difficult for them to understand it, and we had many fights and a not so-good atmosphere at home, but after some time, it all kind of normalised for them. The Afghan girl I met was always a support for me, we always was in contact with each other, and really really helped me in the difficult moments with my family, as well as I was a support for her, we was talking a lot, helping with school issues, talking about our families, daily things, everything. And we "fell in love" with each other. She of course keeps everything about me in secret with her family, and they don't know anything about me, she talks with me hiding the headsets, or deletes the conversations, and keeps everything hidden since sometimes her brothers check her phone. She is 19 years old, and originally from Afghanistan, but has been living in Europe with her family for more than 15 years. She is Hazara Afghan, in case this helps. She is the only daughter in the family and has 6 brothers. The issue comes when we start to think about future, about being together and about the difficulties we might have. She says her family is pretty restrictive and her dad has even told her that he would like her to marry with some of her cousins, but she of course refuses to that. She says that the family can refuse her to marry with a Spanish guy instead of an Afghan one, or a Spanish guy who converted to islam without a muslim family, and yea.. I would like to know your thought about all this, if know some case about reverted man marrying a muslim woman, and if had issues with that. Because it's common to see marriages betwen converted woman and muslim man, but not the opposite.. Or if there is someone that knows about the Afghan traditions and could advice me with that, or give me their own oppinion. --- We have met with each other because I've travelled to her city 2 times after meeting her for the first time, we didn't just see each other one time. --- On the mosque, I got to know an Afghan man, and he resulted to be an Imam when he was in Afghanistan, as well he has been Imam in Iran and Dubai. We have become close to each other, explained me afghan traditions, and he has also helped me a lot with my Islam questions. I exposed to him my situation with the afghan girl, and he said that he could come with me and my family the day that I decide to go ask for her hand to her family. -- Will this help be very helpful? Sorry for the long post, but felt like I had to explain it long so it could be understood, if you have any question, or something is not clear at all, be open to ask. Thanks for your attention, Daniel

My mother was talking on the phone with my Aunt, who lives in Kabul. In the middle of the conversation, my mom heard the explosion from her end. She heard the live explosion, and 80 people died in that instant. It's crazy how this stuff happens, and we never really talk about it as much as terror attacks in the west. My Aunts' neighbors are waiting for their dead children at the moment, they were standing guard in the area. It's really sad. If you haven't read into it, or want to read more, here you go. http://abcnews.go.com/International/90-killed-bomb-rips-central-kabul/story?id=47739486 Crazy part is, THE TALIBAN CONDEMNED THE ATTACK.

I am Syed Abbas Ali and belongs to the family of Imam Jafar Sadiq. Basically My grand father had lost a major portion of our shajrah while migrating to Pakistan, and only a part containing 10 generations before me is left with him. None of his children (my uncles and my father) tried to complete it and he died when I was 2. My Far related grandfather (3rd Cousin to my grandfather) told me that My grandfather did tried to get the whole Shajrah back but was failed in this attempt as those of our relative in India and Lahore refused to provide us with that in fear of some sort of Property. Actually he is the one who told me that we belonged to Syed Qutb descendants who was descendant of Imam Jafar Saddiq and came from Iran or Afghanistan. My grandfather used to live in Jabalpur before seperation and his ancestors in Meeranpur, Jansath Tehsil, India. I tried to look back those Syeds in Meeranpur but found that They were Zaidis. Now I am totally Confused. I looked at a complete shajrah of Zaidis but couldn't find my ancestors name in it so we definitely belong to Jafris. "Syed Abbas s/o Syed Akhtar s/o Syed Aashiq s/o Syed Amjad s/o Syed Hasan s/o Syed Qasim s/o Syed Ameen s/o Syed Lal s/o Syed Dadan s/o Syed Qasim----- Syed Qutb (not mentioned but told to me)" Do anyone know Any book which has a complete shajrah of Jafris?? like those of Zaidis named "Shajrah Saadat e Barha"?? I am very Hopeful that you'll surely help me out. One thing I like to mention is that I'm a Sunni as my ancestors converted to Sunnism due to Taqiyya but many traditions and beliefs of Shia still exist in my family today. Please Anyone Help me.

Interesting reading. http://www.aljazeera.com/programmes/specialseries/2016/10/taliban-oil-afghanistan-161004085739050.html

No Judge, No Jury, No Trial

بسم الله الرحمن الرحیم سلام علیکم "A few days ago, the most popular program of the IRIB (Iran Broadcasting) at the time named mah asal also was dedicated to Afghan migrants and there a new image of these migrants was represented for Iranian people. A TV series named "My home Afghanistan" is being produced which is about Afghan's students and will be broadcasted soon. The movie "Mazar Sharif" which will represent an honorable and of course incomplete image of Afghans will be released in the coming weeks. The TV documentaries about Afghan migrants are being aired one after another and positive changes in the News Agencies, newspapers and magazines from where the changes begin still go on." Translated from the link below: http://www.rajanews.com/news/218415 http://www.telewebion.com/fa/1319835/%D9%82%D8%B3%D9%85%D8%AA-90-_%D9%85%D9%87%D8%A7%D8%AC%D8%B1%DB%8C%D9%86-%D8%A7%D9%81%D8%BA%D8%A7%D9%86%D8%B3%D8%AA%D8%A7%D9%86%DB%8C-%D9%85%DB%8C%D9%87%D9%85%D8%A7%D9%86-%D8%A8%D8%B1%D9%86%D8%A7%D9%85%D9%87-%D8%AE%D9%86%D8%AF%D9%88%D8%A7%D9%86%D9%87/%D8%AE%D9%86%D8%AF%D9%88%D8%A7%D9%86%D9%87.html

ive heard from someone, in some hadith it is said "On the authority of Thawban, the Messenger of Allah (upon whom be blessings and peace) said:The Prophet Sallallahu ‘Alaihi Wa Sallam said: "Before your treasure, three will kill each other -- all of them are sons of a different caliph but none will be the recipient. Then the Black Banners will appear from the East and they will kill you in a way that has never before been done by a nation." Thawban, said: 'Then he said something that I do not remember by heart' then continued to say that the Prophet, praise and peace be upon him, said: "If you see him give him your allegiance, even if you have to crawl over ice, because surely he is the Caliph of Allah, the Mahdi. If you see the black flags coming from Khurasan, join that army, even if you have to crawl over ice, for this is the army of the Caliph, the Mahdi and no one can stop that army until it reaches Jerusalem." Can someone clarify me on this Hadith and which one it is? Do you think the Mahdi will be from Afghanistan?, and what do you think " the black flags of Khurasan"?

جانِ ایران، جانِ افغانستان یک دستور از رهبر انقلاب: هیچ دانش‌آموز افغانستانی، از تحصیل بازنماند؛ حتی .غیرقانونی خبرگزاری تسنیم: رهبر معظم انقلاب چندی پیش دستور داده‌اند که همه کودکان افغانستانی، چه آنها که دارای شرایط قانونی حضور در ایران هستند و چه آنها که مدارک قانونی حضور در ایران را ندارد باید در مدارس دولتی ثبت‌نام شوند، این یک تصمیم بزرگ و تاریخی است. سرانجام موعد رسانه‌ای شدن یکی از مهمترین تصمیمات عالی نظام جمهوری اسلامی در تاریخ سی و چند ساله حضور مهاجرین افغانستانی در ایران فرا رسیده است. صحبت‌های ضمنی مبنی بر اعلام این تصمیم در تمام طول این یکی دو سال شنیده می‌شد. اما سرانجام مشخص شد که به‌صورت مشخص و واضحی این دستور از سوی عالی‌ترین مقام نظام جمهوری اسلامی ایران، مقام معظم رهبری صادر شده است: "هیچ کودک افغانستانی، حتی مهاجرینی که به‌صورت غیرقانونی و بی‌مدرک در ایران حضور دارند، نباید از تحصیل بازبمانند و همه آنها باید در مدارس ایرانی ثبت‌نام شوند". این البته برای همه کسانی که روش و منش رهبر معظم انقلاب سر مسئله « مهاجرین افغانستانی» را دنبال می‌کنند مسئله عجیبی نیست. مرور فقط همین 2 سال اخیر نشان می‌دهد که رهبر انقلاب با دستور به «تکریم همه مهاجرین افغانستانی» و بیان جمله «تهران؛ خانه افغانستانی‌هاست»، مشخص کرده بودند که سیاست عالی نظام جمهوری اسلامی در مواجهه با مهاجرین افغانستانی، همچنان طبق آرمان‌های اولیه انقلاب تدوین می‌شود و کم‌کاری‌ها و بدکاری‌های مدیریت بی‌آرمان و بوروکراتیکی که مهاجرین را به‌چشم «بیگانگان» نگاه می‌کند، انحراف از آرمان‌های انقلاب است و شخص رهبری جلوی این انحراف ایستاده است. و حالا این دستور، سند تضمین‌شده دیگری بر اولویت نگاه انسانی و اسلامی، در تصمیم‌گیران اصلی نظام‌ جمهوری اسلامی است. این دستور البته چند وقتی است که صادر شده است و چند ماه پیش نیز خلیل الله بابالو در دیدار معاون رئیس اجرایی دولت افغانستان با وزیر آموزش وپرورش که در ساختمان شهید رجایی برگزارشد به صورت کاملا رسمی این دستور را اعلام کرد و در سایت آموزش و پرورش نیز این ماجرا منعکس شد، اما در بقیه رسانه‌های خبری بازتاب چندانی نیافت. بابالو در جریان آن دیدار اظهار کرده بود: بعد از فرمایش مقام معظم رهبری مبنی بر «هیچ دانش‌آموز افغانی از تحصیل بازنماند» آمار ثبت نام از دانش آموزان افغانی در مدارس ایرانی بیش از 10 درصد افزایش داشته و همچنان اجرا می‌شود. وی از ثبت نام مهاجرین غیرمجاز نیز در مدارس کشور خبر داد و افزود: در خصوص ثبت‌نام دانش‌آموزان مهاجر غیرقانونی تاکنون هیچ گزارشی از عدم ثبت نام این‌گونه دانش آموزان به آموزش و پرورش نرسیده است. بابالو با بیان اینکه آموزش وپرورش اعتقادی به جداسازی دانش آموزان ایرانی از افغانستانی ندارد، خاطرنشان کرد: در بخشنامه‌های آموزش وپرورش به‌طور کامل تصریح شده است که هیچ نوع تبعیض و تفاوتی نباید میان دانش آموزان قایل شد. به نظر می‌رسد با این تصمیم، یکی از مهمترین موانع رشد و پرورش جامعه مهاجر در ایران به‌زودی برداشته خواهد شد. مدارس ایرانی از این پس از دانش‌آموزان مهاجر افغانستانی، بدون اینکه قرار باشد کاغذها و مهرها و مدارک روی آنها ارزش‌گذاری کند ثبت‌نام به عمل خواهند آورد و سال تحصیلی جدید، یک سال تاریخی و شیرین برای همه مهاجرین افغانستانی خواهد بود. این اتفاق پیگیری خواهد شد. http://www.tasnimnews.com/Home/Single/741883 Some parts translated here :

(salam) I found this while searching about the world's places of Ziyarat. Could someone tell me what this is about ? http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:The_Holy_Tomb_of_Imam_Mahdi_AS_at_Farah,Afghanistan.jpg I searched a bit and came across this, http://khalifatullahmehdi.info/visit.asp it seems to be related but there is no further information. Was this a fake mahdi ? Anyone ? Thanks

Why a dam in Afghanistan might set back peace The water that grows western Afghanistan’s fresh produce, sprinkles its town parks with shade-giving trees, and slakes the thirst of war-weary Afghans, is becoming a point of tension with nearby Iran as a large dam under construction will constrict cross-border flow. After nearly four decades of work, the Salma Dam – a $200 million project paid for and built by India, yet delayed by Afghanistan’s turbulent history of occupations, civil war, and insurgency – is slated to be finished by the end of 2014. Afghan officials say they have no plans to negotiate water rights with Iran, although analysts and Western sources warn that lack of agreement could worsen Afghanistan’s already [Edited Out]ly ties with its Iranian neighbor. “We have many projects in Afghanistan, and every project has its enemy. But unfortunately Salma Dam has three enemies,” says Fazl Ahmad Zakeri, the Ministry of Energy and Water’s acting director for the Harirud and Murghab River Basin, in Herat. “It’s not possible [to stop work]. We will complete this dam.” One of those enemies, says Mr. Zakeri, is Pakistan. Islamabad is “trying to stop the work” because it is being built by strategic rival India. In April, Afghan intelligence officials announced they had thwarted a Taliban plot to blow up the dam with about 2,860 pounds of explosives. The plan, they claimed, was aided by Pakistan’s intelligence agency. The other two “enemies” of the Salma Dam are Turkmenistan and Iran because it will diminish water flow to their own parched regions and dam projects. Afghan officials have often charged Iran with being behind dam-related attacks. When an Afghan district governor who had supported the project was killed in 2010, Afghan police officials suspected Iran’s involvement. The head of the police unit guarding the dam claimed to have evidence that Iran funded a local Taliban commander and his 200 men who had “promised Iran that he will succeed in halting work on the Salma Dam,” according to a report by the Institute for War and Peace Reporting. Likewise, two months ago, six of the dam’s security guards were killed by a roadside bomb. Without naming Iran, the provincial security chief said that the killings had “a political motivation. This is the work of those countries who don’t want Afghanistan to develop.” But in Herat, water official Zakeri says that “we don’t have any data to give us information that Iran is creating some problem.” Iranian officials say they support Afghan development, and deny conducting any destabilizing actions in Afghanistan, despite credible reports of past, limited assistance to anti-US insurgents, including the Taliban. “Yes, the Iranians are asking for negotiations. Always they are asking for negotiations [because they will get] much less water,” notes Zakeri. But negotiation may be easier said than done, with so much at stake for both sides. WHAT AFGHANISTAN WANTS For Afghanistan, key facts are clear: The Salma Dam will increase cultivatable land from 35,000 hectares to 80,000 hectares. It will also produce 42 MW of electricity, lowering the region’s dependence on Iran (which now provides 80 MW, cheaply) and Turkmenistan (which provides 50 MW). “It will change much, because this project is not just for Herat,” says Zakeri. “If we can produce more fruit, we can send this to Kandahar, to other provinces. This project might change the situation in all of Afghanistan.” For Iran, too, key facts are clear: The dam will cut the flow of its own Harirud River water by 73 percent, even though the number of Iranians dependent on that water – including the shrine city of Mashhad – is almost three times as large as the number of Afghans. “Iran has always criticized Afghanistan for its water policies on Helmand and Harirud Rivers,” says an Iranian analyst in Tehran who has worked on the issue of Helmand, a larger river flowing into Iran farther south, and asked not to be named. “Iran and Pakistan are both accused of sabotage [and] Mashhad depends on the water of the Harirud. So Iran has a big concern that dams in Afghanistan [will] reduce the water as [they have] on Helmand.” THE 'ONLY WAY FORWARD' A 2010 report on Afghanistan’s water resources warned that “cross-border cooperation on water is not an option; it is the only way forward” with all neighbors. Lack of bilateral or regional agreements created “a serious threat to sustainable development and security in the region,” stated the EastWest Institute report. The report also noted that a model for cooperation already exists, for the Helmand River. Afghanistan and Iran first created a joint commission in 1950, and in 1973 agreed that Iran would receive a precise volume. For now, however, Kabul doesn’t “see any reason” to hold water negotiations with Iran over the Selma Dam, says Shujaudin Ziaye, the deputy minister of Energy and Water in Kabul. “We have no new negotiations in the past two years. The idea of building this dam emerged 40 years back. At that time, Iran had no request of water,” says Mr. Ziaye. “Maybe they need to talk with us, but we don’t see any need to talk with Iran, to negotiate about water. Right now, no.” HIGH PRIORITY For many Afghans, water resources are a high priority. When President Hamid Karzai met an audience of ordinary Afghans in March for a televised program, there were nearly as many questions about water as about security. “How much can the Afghan government defend its water resources?” asked one man, after listing the country’s water systems. Another asked why the government did not build more dams so Afghans “will have access to electricity and the dry deserts will be irrigated.” Mr. Karzai replied: “We know that some of our neighboring countries do not want our dams to be built and do not want us to have our own electricity.” He also said that “we have used our waters less throughout history and the neighbors have used them more. We know this, but we want to manage it in good relations with [them].” But a history of mutual suspicions abounds. Iran has offered some technical expertise to Afghanistan, on water and agricultural issues. Iran’s Minister of Energy Majid Namjou visited in January to cut the ribbon on two Iranian-made electric turbines given to Herat for emergency use. “Iran, it seems, has adopted competing policies on Afghanistan – one of cooperation in certain cases and one that contributes to destabilizing in others,” stated the EastWest Institute report. “Iran perceives agricultural development – a crucial element in the Obama strategy to increase economic activity in Afghanistan – and dam rehabilitation and reconstruction as major security threats.” In Herat, that is also how some Afghan officials see it. “If we have sustainable agriculture, and sustainable industries in Herat and our western zone of Afghanistan; if we have security – especially in Herat – then our Salma Dam will be built, and [iran] will face many challenges, in their agriculture and industry,” says Herat Chief of Police Rahmatullah Safai.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/persian/iran/2012/04/120401_l10_iran_isfahan_afghans.shtml In this article it says how the Afghans (Hazaras) in Iran are denied from their rights. This is soo unfair. We hazaras go to Iran to see it as a protector because we are all shia but look how do they treat us. I don't care if their people are racist because anyone can be racist. But what matters is when their government is racist. If the problem is that there is too many refugees there, that doesn't give u the right to be racist to them or treat them like animals. Why not strengthen the security on the border and not let many in instead of bullying the poor refugees inside the country?? I went to Iran 3 months ago fir ziyarat, and the way they treat Afghans (witnessed lots myself and also heard stories) is just un just! This creates lots of doubts and dilemma, of wheather we should really love Iran or not? Wheather we should support it's regiem or not? whether is it a hypocrite country like saudi or no a country that might become the base of our beloved Imam. Please, please I am a very open minded person. Explain to me the reason for the injustice of the Afghans in Iran! I mean here in Australia, the government is not even an Islamic one and they treat everyone be it Irani, Afghani, African, Jew etc. the same. Isn't justice the fundemental part of an Islamic government?

The Rise of New Bloody War in the Middle East The advent of democracy and equality of citizens in the Middle East is not only a bad news for the current dictators of the Arab world, Al Qaeda and its Wahhabi affiliates are equally worried. Also in Pakistan and Afghanistan, Wahhabi share one common characteristic with the current Wahhabi rulers of Saudi Arabia, i.e., acute hatred for Shia who they consider infidels. The events of the Arab Spring have heightened long-standing tensions in Saudi Arabia's Eastern Province. Just three days after large-scale protests started in Bahrain on 2011, protests began in the Eastern Province, which is a 30-minute drive across the causeway from Bahrain. Perhaps unsurprisingly, the Saudi interior ministry vowed to crush the protests with an "Iron Fist" and has unleashed a media-smear campaign against protests and the Shiites in general. While protests subsided over the summer, they started again in October and have become larger ever since, leading to an ever more heavy-handed response from the security forces. The Eastern Province is home to virtually all of Saudi Arabia's oil and to a sizeable Shiite majority, or around 30 percent of Saudi Arabia's citizen population. The Wahhabi creed of Salafi Islam that the state sponsors in Saudi Arabia has developed a special hostility toward the Shiites. Saudi Shiite citizens in turn have long complained of discrimination in religious practice, government employment, and business, and overall marginalization. For decades, opposition groups formed by Saudi Shiites, both leftist and Islamists, as well as hundreds of petitions by Shiite notables, have had the same demands: an end to sectarian discrimination in government employment and representation in main state sectors including at the ministerial level; more development in Shiite areas; the strengthening of the Shiite judiciary; and an end to arbitrary arrests of Shiite for religious or political reasons. None of these demands would significantly undermine the position of the royal family, or otherwise threaten the integrity of Saudi Arabia. They would rather cement the current political system and buy the allegiance of two million people living on top of the kingdom's oil. The perception of systematic discrimination has led some Saudi Shiites to embrace revolutionary ideologies over the decades. While pro-Iranian groups still exist amongst Gulf Shiites, they are not the most powerful amongst Saudi Shiites and had largely renounced violence as a political tool since at least the mid-1990s. But Saudi Arabia's repressive response to the protests and the zero-concessions policy are providing fertile breeding ground for future opposition groups. A repetition of post-1979 Shiite politics, when hundreds of young Shiites left Bahrain and Saudi Arabia's Eastern Province to become active in regional revolutionary movements, seems possible. As the protests in Bahrain and particularly in Qatif receive only limited attention on Gulf-owned channels like Al Jazeera and Al Arabiya, local Shiites are forced to watch the Iranian-sponsored Arabic-language Al Alam channel, Lebanese Hezbollah's Al Manar, Iraq's Ahlul Bait TV, or increasingly other pro-Assad channels to receive updates on the situation in their areas. The new cold war in the Middle East has turned into a fully-fledged media war, in which media outlets are either with the protests in Bahrain and Qatif and for Assad's regime, or with the protests in Syria and against the allegedly sectarian protests in Bahrain and Qatif. The situation for Saudi Shiites in the Eastern Province is no secret. The U.S. State Department's Annual Report to Congress on International Religious Freedom for the second half of 2010, the period immediately predating the Arab Spring, records arbitrary detentions, mosque closures, and the arrest of Shiite worshippers. U.S. diplomatic cables released by Wikileaks revealed that U.S. diplomats, and particularly the staff at its consulate in Dhahran, have an incredible amount of information on the local Shiite communities and seem almost obsessed with grievances they deem legitimate. But the specific problems of the Saudi Shiites almost never come up at high-level meetings with Saudi officials. This is not only due to the close Saudi and U.S. alliance. Americans sometimes share the suspicion of the Gulf Shiites, which permeates some of its allied regimes. This suspicion is partly to do with Iran, but also has its roots in the 1996 bombing of the Khobar Towers, which killed 19 U.S. servicemen. Nine Shiite prisoners have been incarcerated since 1996 for their alleged membership in Hezbollah al-Hijaz and their involvement in the bombings. They were indicted in the United States in 2001, but as U.S. foreign policy priorities changed after September 11 they became "forgotten," the name they are known by amongst Saudi Shiites. The indictment hints at the involvement of Lebanese Hezbollah and Iran but no evidence has ever been made public. At the time some Americans called for retaliation against Iran as a response to this bombing. But after September 11, fingers began to point toward al Qaeda as involved in the attack, raising questions about the guilt of these prisoners. The Shiite prisoners cannot hope ever to be "rehabilitated" in one of the government's much advertised de-radicalization programs. It seems to be justified to at least ask for a public trial, a move repeatedly endorsed by Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International. But such a trial does not appear to be on the foreign-policy agenda of the United States. The behavior of the Saudi leadership only allows the conclusion that repression of the Shiites is a fundamental part of Saudi political legitimacy. The state does not want to change the position of the Shiites and Shiite protests are used by the state to frighten the Sunni population of an Iranian takeover of the oilfields with the help of local Shiites. Similar narratives have been propagated in the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) media for months, at the cost of further deepening the sectarian divide in the Gulf States. The GCC intervention in Bahrain has severely worsened sectarian relations in the Gulf and beyond to levels not seen since the Iranian Revolution. But this open Saudi sectarianism has already had negative repercussions in Iraq, as well as in Syria, Lebanon, and Kuwait. Bahrain looks set for years of sectarian conflict, community relations have broken down completely, and the state is conducting a campaign of what Shiite activists call "ethnic cleansing." Rather than completely alienating the Shiites, Saudi Arabia and Bahrain should negotiate a social contract with them. Failing to do so will lead to years of instability with uncertain outcomes. And it is far from certain that other Saudis will not be encouraged by the Shiite protests, as a recent statement by liberal Saudis from all over the kingdom denouncing the crackdown in Qatif has shown. The West should press its allies, above all Saudi Arabia and Bahrain, to stop simply shooting and arresting their Shiite citizens and brandishing them as Iranian agents and traitors. The alienation of Shiite youth foments a perfect breeding ground for a new Gulf Shiite opposition movement. Even without external help for the local Shiite protesters, the area looks ripe for a return to the tense sectarian politics of the 1980s. The United States should in its own, and in the Gulf States', interest push for a real reconciliation between the Shiites of Bahrain and Saudi Arabia and their governments. Otherwise, sectarianism will come to dominate the Gulf, to the detriment of all.

Second militant faction opts out of negotiations Stalled peace efforts in Afghanistan have suffered another setback when a second militant faction one that has squared off against both the U.S.-led coalition and the Taliban announced it was suspending formal peace negotiations with the Afghan government, as the Taliban did earlier this month. The group, Hezb-i-Islami, or Islamic Party, has been an increasingly minor presence on the battlefield in recent years, pressured by coalition forces and chased from strongholds in central and eastern Afghanistan by its Taliban rivals. Its military weakness left it far more willing to talk with the U.S. and the government of President Hamid Karzai, which includes many members of a breakaway political wing of the group. The militant wing of Hezb-i-Islami said on Thursday it would continue unofficial talks. But the fact that a group whose current relevance stems largely from its willingness to engage has decided to distance itself from formal negotiations underscored the fragility of the peace effort in Afghanistan. Unlike the Taliban, who have yet to engage in any substantial talks, Hezb-i-Islami delegations have repeatedly travelled from havens in Pakistan to Kabul since 2010. Hezb-i-Islami representatives also met U.S. officials in Afghanistan in recent months. But on Thursday, Qaribur Rahman Saeed, a representative of Hezb-i-Islami in Europe, said his group was suspending formal talks because neither Afghan nor U.S. officials would seriously consider the group's 15-point peace proposal. The plan calls for the withdrawal of coalition forces in six months, holding new elections and possibly rewriting the Afghan constitution. Hezb-i-Islami calls it the National Rescue Agreement. It is a nonstarter for Kabul and Washington. For now, that means Hezb-i-Islami's leader, Gulbuddin Hekmatyar, once a powerful warlord and a former Afghan Prime Minister, is not willing to take part in formal talks, said Mr. Saeed in a telephone interview from Norway, where he is based. Because the Afghan and U.S. governments “don't have any practical and acceptable approaches for the solution of the crisis, the negotiation is going to be suspended,” Mr. Hekmatyar was quoted as saying in a rambling essay written by Mr. Saeed, who provided a copy of the document and asked to be identified as the “head of the Afghan Nation Peace Council” in the European Union. The critique offered by Mr. Hekmatyar in essence, that neither the Afghan government nor the U.S. leadership was ready to make the compromises needed to end the militancy was similar to the one voiced by the Taliban when it announced this month that it was suspending its nascent talks with the U.S. Mr. Hekmatyar rose to prominence as a mujahedeen leader during the fight against the Soviet occupation of Afghanistan in the 1980s. He was a particular favourite of ISI Directorate, which managed the militancy against the Soviets. After Afghanistan's Soviet-backed government collapsed in the early 1990s, Mr. Hekmatyar went on to become Prime Minister. He then gained notoriety for bombarding his own capital as the country descended into civil war. Now he operates from Pakistan, where his faction is based. Though he is fighting the U.S.-led coalition, his faction has repeatedly clashed with the more powerful Taliban in recent years, losing ground to them. Despite its military weakness, Hezb-i-Islami remains an intriguing peace partner for both Mr. Karzai and the U.S. The group's political wing includes Mr. Karzai's chief of staff, a number of Cabinet Ministers and numerous members of Parliament. U.S. officials say bringing Hezb-i-Islami's militant wing into the fold would signal to Taliban moderates that giving up the fight is a viable option. Less clear is whether Mr. Hekmatyar would personally be welcomed back to Afghanistan, where he is despised by many for the destruction wrought by his forces during the civil war. In Kabul on Thursday, Afghan officials said a NATO supply convoy had come under heavy attack by Taliban insurgents in western Afghanistan, with 37 dead reported in the firefight and NATO airstrikes that ensued. The victims included seven private security guards with two companies guarding the convoy, according to an official at one of the companies. Two Afghan National Army soldiers and numerous Taliban fighters were also among the dead. Fayaz Jailani, the regional operations manager for GFI Security, said the convoy was attacked on Wednesday by 70 to 80 insurgents with heavy machine guns and other weapons. The attackers killed one guard from his company and six from a second company, Aria Security, Mr. Jailani said. The victims were all Afghans, he said. The attack took place in the Gulistani District of Farah province, and the convoy was en route from Herat province to a NATO base in Helmand province, Mr. Jailani said. The head of security for the Farah provincial police, Muhammad Ghus Mayaar, said the fighting began on Wednesday afternoon and continued for eight hours, with 28 Taliban attackers killed by the time it ended. A spokesman for the NATO-led International Security Assistance Force, Master Sgt. Russell Bertke, said that the coalition had made two airstrikes against the attacking Taliban in support of Afghan forces, but that no civilians had been killed. “Numerous insurgents were killed, and several vehicles and motorbikes were damaged or destroyed,” Sgt. Bertke said. A spokesman for the Taliban, Qari Yousuf Ahmadi, claimed that only five Taliban fighters had been killed by airstrikes, and that the insurgents had killed 40 guards and Afghan soldiers guarding the convoy. In other violence, two people were assassinated on Wednesday because of government connections by unknown gunmen in Kandahar City, according to Zalmai Ayoubi, the spokesman for the governor of Kandahar province. One was an official of the National Directorate of Security, the Afghan intelligence service, and the other was the father of a security guard in the governor's office, Mr. Ayoubi said. courtesy - New York Times News Service

Anatomy of a Massacre Dateline SBS Australia What really happened on the night of March 11 when 17 Afghan civilians were massacred in Kandahar province? Many Afghans, including some of the survivors that night, believe more than one U.S. soldier was present in the two villages where the killings took place. With unprecedented access to Afghan military investigators, Yalda Hakim travels to the villages where the massacre took place and interviews survivors of the attack, as well as Afghan guards at the US military base that housed the alleged gunman. US soldier Robert Bales is in custody, facing charges of mass murder, but Afghan investigators suspect there may have been at least one other killer involved. INTERVIEW WITH YALDA - Yalda Hakim explains to SBS Radio's World News Australia how she was able to get such unprecedented access to the massacre investigation. Posted March 30, 2012 http://youtu.be/gnueG4I7Q9g

Our nation is the strongest military force in the history of the known universe. For the past century, we have been waging wars all over our tiny planet. The Great War, WWI was followed by WWII a war that many believe was even greater. Both world wars catapulted our nation into the leading role of all the nations on earth. We are the richest, the most respected, the most reviled, the most envied, the most powerful nation among nations. We are the most warlike nation. We must, therefore, be the most warlike people ever to have populated this planet. Over the past decade, our nation has prosecuted wars in the Middle East. A war of vengeance against Afghanistan. A war of cupidity against Iraq. Both wars have gone badly for America. While the final combat forces departed Iraq last week, more than 100,000 of our troops are still waging a twilight war in Afghanistan. But it is really worse than that, for our press, television and mainstream media do not reveal the truth to our people. We are already engaged in a third major land war in the Middle East, a war against Iran. Throughout it all, we are being assured by our government that Iran is culpable of violations of the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty, but we are given no conclusive evidence that this casus belli is any more credible than the risible case Colin Powell presented to the United Nations in February 2002 stating that Saddam Hussein posed a threat because of his vast and powerful arsenal of weapons of mass destruction. With the pace of war against Iran now thundering in all its fury, it is time to mobilize once again to demand peace. Raza Mehkeri Houston, Texas. AMERICAN SHIA (Shiite) MUSLIMS