Taliban Commander Severs Ties With Group Over 'Ethnicist' Policies

Qari Salahuddin Ayubi, an Uzbek commander of the Taliban, has severed ties with the Taliban group in objection to what he refers to as“ethnicist policies, and monopoly of power.”

The disaffected Taliban commander has reportedly left Kabul, the Afghan capital, and is now at his base in Faryab province in northern Afghanistan, BBC reported.

The Uzbek Taliban commander has stated that he will not work with the Taliban until significant reforms and changes are made to the Taliban administration's structure.

Salahuddin Ayubi, according to the BBC report, has brought up the issues for the Taliban to realize“inclusive governance, women's full access to education, and cessation of forced usurpation of people's lands.”

He had already lost his military rank when the Taliban appointed him as the Deputy Minister of Rural Development, a position that Ayubi refused to accept.

Ayubi has quit as a result of the“monopoly of power and exclusion of ethnic groups” in response to escalating tensions among Taliban leaders.

Ayubi, the Taliban commander, is in charge of many Uzbek Taliban in northern Afghanistan and was one of the first to enter Kabul and the Afghan presidential palace, according to the BBC report.

Previously, another“disgruntled” Hazara commander of the Taliban broke away from the Taliban and was suppressed and killed by the Taliban in the Balkhab district of Sar-e-Pol province. The war reportedly resulted in dozens of fatalities from both sides and the displacement of over 27,000 civilians.

• Saqalain Eqbal is an Online Editor for Khaama Press. He is a Law graduate from The American University of Afghanistan (AUAF).

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