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Significance
In 2022, the community’s Ashura observances passed off relatively smoothly under Taliban protection. The Taliban said this year that restrictions were necessary to ensure security against possible attacks by Islamic State-Khorasan (IS-K), but much of the community refused to comply, prompting violent clashes with police.
Impacts
Certain Taliban factions will discourage reaching out to Shia leaders, as they do not want the authorities to appear sympathetic to them.
Afghanistan’s complicated ties with neighbouring Iran, a largely Shia country, will likely become harder to manage.
Rising tensions with religious minorities will only make the Taliban’s search for international recognition tougher.
Keywords:
Afghanistan,
AP,
Iran,
politics,
government,
police,
religion,
security,
terrorism,
foreign policy,
policy,
international relations,
regional
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2023
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