(Last Updated On: March 14, 2021)
The Afghan National Statistics and Information Authority (NSIA) has allegedly classified a number of ethnic groups and tribes into categories – in a move met with a strong backlash by Afghans including some government officials.
The categorized list of ethnicities and tribes is included in an online platform for registration for the new electronic national ID cards.
Based on the list, all Pashtuns in Afghanistan are classified into one ethnic group but the rest of the groups such as Tajiks, Hazaras, and Uzbeks are each divided into several tribes.
Some politicians believe that the NSIA’s list “deliberately” fuels disunity among the people of Afghanistan as the organization has categorized ethnic groups based on their “villages, districts and tribes.”
With intra-Afghan talks gridlocked and the U.S. troop withdrawal deadline looming, Secretary of State Antony Blinken proposed new plans to advance the peace process in a letter to Afghan President Ashraf Ghani. The letter recommends several efforts to “move matters more fundamentally and quickly” toward peace, including a U.N.-convened conference of key regional actors, a senior-level meeting between the Afghan government and the Taliban hosted by Turkey and a 90-day reduction in violence to head off the Taliban’s annual spring offensive. Blinken also recommended an interim power-sharing government composed of Taliban and other Afghan leaders.
A leaked letter from Secretary of State Blinken to Afghan President Ghani proposed new efforts to bolster the Afghan peace process and warned that the U.S. is still considering withdrawing troops in May. (Stefani Reynolds/The New York Times)