Afghans shared accounts of violence linked to the Taliban on social media with the hashtag phrase “don’t redeem the Taliban” as anxiety grows about the US withdrawing troops and attempting to usher peace with the militant group.
The accounts of alleged violence and human rights abuses with the hashtag phrase in Dari “don’t redeem the Taliban” have been shared more than 100,000 times on Twitter.
Kabul-based Twitter user Ejaz Malikzada, 26, said the message gained traction as Afghan social media users sought to remind foreign powers not to sacrifice achievements on human rights made in the last few decades.
“By participating in this hashtag I want to tell those foreigners who insist on starting peace talks in Afghanistan, they have ignored or forgotten the crimes and violence committed by the Taliban against Afghan people,” he said.
Though millions of Afghans have no access to Twitter, for many, social media movements allow people to voice their concerns and share their grief from remote parts of the country.
The Taliban has carried out attacks that have killed thousands of civilians around the country as they have been waging an insurgency since their ouster from power.
The Taliban claimed responsibility for a number of attacks this month, the most recent last week when a car bomb exploded at a government compound.
During their 1996-2001 rule they enforced their strict interpretation of Islamic law under which women were barred from education or leaving the house without a male relative.
U.S. soldiers guard at the site of a suicide bombing in Kabul, Afghanistan, Feb. 26, 2015. At least two people were killed while several others wounded after a suicide bombing targeted the Turkish embassy’s vehicles in front of the Iranian Embassy here on Thursday morning, sources said.Photo:Xinhua
