![Aerial view of Mazar-e-Sharif, showing urban districts and surrounding landscape under soft daylight. The photograph provides geographic context to the news report on the killing of a Turkmen elder. [Courtesy: Hasht-e-Subah]](https://htnworld.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/balkh-2.webp)
Mazar-e-Sharif — A well-known Turkmen elder and community mediator, Karim Agha, was shot dead by unidentified armed men in central Mazar-e-Sharif on Monday, in what local residents describe as a targeted killing linked to ethnic tensions under Taliban rule.
Witnesses told HTN that the attack occurred as Karim Agha was travelling through the city centre. He died on the spot. Security forces later cordoned off surrounding neighbourhoods, restricted movement, and questioned residents, though no arrests have been made.
Agha, widely respected in Balkh for mediating land and community disputes, had been critical of what he described as the Taliban’s systematic discrimination against Turkmen, Uzbek, and Tajik communities. Several local figures say his killing is likely connected to those concerns, amid rising reports of intimidation and enforced silence targeting non-Pashtun elders.
Rising Ethnic Persecution Under Taliban Rule
The killing comes as Afghanistan sees a steady increase in attacks on minority representatives, despite repeated Taliban claims of restoring security. Field reporting from northern provinces highlights a broader pattern that non-Pashtun communities feel increasingly vulnerable under an administration dominated by Kandahari and southern Pashtun elites.
The Taliban’s 49-member cabinet includes only a handful of Tajiks, Uzbeks, and Baloch. No Turkmen hold any senior positions. The SAT study on Afghanistan’s governance published this year described the system as “ethnically exclusionary, structurally Pashtun-centric, and designed to reduce the political footprint of northern communities.”
Multiple provincial reports also note forced demographic shifts, with Pashtun returnee families relocated to fertile northern districts, echoing 1990s-era patterns that deepened ethnic fractures.
Doha Commitments and the Collapse of Inclusion
The February 2020 Doha Accord, which formed the basis of international engagement with the Taliban, included commitments to political inclusivity and non-discrimination among Afghan ethnicities. None were implemented. Instead of an inclusive transition, the Taliban took Kabul by force in 2021 and established a governance system described by rights monitors as exclusive, opaque, and ideologically rigid.
The SAT report notes that minorities, including Turkmen, have been systematically sidelined in the judiciary, provincial administrations, and security sectors. Linguistic suppression, especially in Dari and Uzbek-speaking provinces such as Balkh and Jowzjan, has intensified these grievances.
Karim Agha was among several Turkmen elders who had publicly criticised these policies, warning that the erasure of non-Pashtun identities would fuel local backlash.
Taliban Security Claims Under Scrutiny
Although the Taliban claim to have eliminated criminal networks and insurgent cells, targeted killings, explosions, and retaliatory attacks have increased in Balkh, Jawzjan, Sar-e-Pul, and Panjshir over recent months. Analysts say the violence reflects both community tensions and deeper fractures within the Taliban’s own ranks.
For Pakistan and other neighbouring states, the deteriorating security landscape in northern Afghanistan has direct implications. Islamabad has repeatedly argued in negotiations that governance built on exclusion and coercion tends to create ungoverned spaces that militant groups exploit. International monitoring reports already document the unfettered movement of regional and foreign terrorist outfits across Afghan soil.
The killing of a prominent Turkmen elder in Balkh, a province that once functioned as a multi-ethnic commercial hub, illustrates how fragile the Taliban’s authority remains outside Kabul and Kandahar.
No Claim of Responsibility
No group has claimed responsibility for the attack on Karim Agha, and the Taliban have not released a statement. Local sources say the absence of immediate attribution is itself telling, as many such killings are quietly linked to political or ethnic disagreements rather than insurgent operations.
Residents in Mazar-e-Sharif say fear has grown in minority neighbourhoods, where elders now travel with extreme caution or avoid public appearances altogether.
As investigations continue, the killing adds to mounting evidence that ethnic minorities in northern Afghanistan face intensifying pressure, constrained political space, and a climate in which dissenting voices are increasingly silenced.
