since i am roughly 15% Afgan (Pathan) i would love to know more about there history. ALl that i currently know in depth is the anglo-afghan wars and after, nothing on Afghan empires though.

Does Babur empire count, since technically he his origins lay with Uzbekistan.

Ther have been several empires based in what is now Afghanistan.

eg the Ghurids created a large and powerfull state.

Well the issue is not only what Empires could be considered "Afghan" and what empires would not exist WITHOUT the help of Afghans.

Afghan Dynasties include the Suri, Lodhi, Khilji, Hotaki, and Abdali.

Afghan Empires include the Durrani/Abdali & Khilji Confederacy of Mirwais. 

Empires that enlisted Afghans to enforce their domains, or expand their empires would include - Kharijites, Ghorids, Ghaznavids, Khwarazmi, Moghuls, Safavids, and Afsharids.  

One thing is for certain, most Afghans have better luck creating empires in other countries and lands than their own.  I think the reason for this is the sheer amount of hostility and jealousy among Pakhtuns in their own homeland. 

The power of one tribe will be checked by another, and so this checks & balances system makes sure no tribe bests the other.  No tribe who wishes to have good relations with its neighbor can make a unilateral decision without a jirga, or council to settle the issue.

The only time this checks & balances was not used was under the Durrani Empire, in which Ahmad Shah was elected King of the Afghans by a council of elders in Kandahar.  He kept his power by paying off rival tribesmen, or expelling dissenters to other lands.  He was a great leader and during his peak, his army included a good portion of all the allied Durrani tribes, over 30,000 Khiljis, 5,000+ Qezelbash and Uzbeks of Afsharis army, and over 100,000 horsemen from Pukhtunkhwa.  

He administered in the Persian form of enlisting trusted friends & relatives  to rule in different territories, but after his death the inflated empire crumbled soon after Abdali's death with the arrival of Sikh/British/Russian expansion into their territories, and the Qajars in Persia.  Afghan Kings still rested nominal control in Balkh, Badakhshan, Herat, and some of Turkestan, but not completely until the arrival of Abdur Rahman Khan, also known as the "Iron Emir" in which toda's borders for the nation is founded on.

Yes, iam aware of the Pathans bravery. If iam correct in saying modern Afghanistan has never lost their nation to any one. Not the British nor the Russians. The Americans are still battling and have still not been able to control the country. So thats three 'super powers' against little old Afghanistan.

May Allah return peace to this land

Salaamona,

Sorry for not putting in anything for a long time, anyways, i'm currently a bit busy with my studies and roza, as i am finished with them i will get back and discuss Afghan history.

Wish youse happy Roza/Ramadan.

pashtons & empires LOOOL plese

-If you have something to add, then do so with a better amount of intellect than the kind you have shown here.-Seko

*To the Dungeon*

admins and moderators,

Can I say I hate pashtons with a valid reason?

There is no reason to hate a whole people - ever.

zagros, why not? Just look at their 250 - 300yrs of history.

I just CANNOT find anything positive about them.

They traded half of afghanistan with british india.

They invited the Russians into afghanistan for $$$ where millions of innocent lives were lost.

Later on, when going got tough they invited arabs, pakistanis and 1000s of men from other nationlities.

Taliban or pashton millitias....destroyed the buddhas, and massacred non- pashtons with the help of pakistani army.

I'm sorry but they are complete disgrace and its laughable when they brag about courage.

If they had an ounce of courage and bravery they wouldnt have invited outsiders and massacre non-pashtons.

They bomb girls schools, they trade little girls for drugs (the one that was traded and documented on BBC was only 8 years old!)

They are against all sorts of education xcept poisoning young children's mind with hatred of non-pashtons and non-muslims.

from the young age, they are thought how to abuse women, and kill kill kill and killl!

anyways enuf said.

Bang, your negative opinions on Pashtons of Afghanistan does not hold water.

You tend to generalize too much (they).

You say they invited the Russians into their country when, in fact, it was Babrak Kemal who had that dubious honor. He did so after internal disputes and Soviet pressure. Most anti-Soviet nations willingly and covertly helped the Afghan resistance. That includes the US, China, Pakistan and Iran. Your notion to blame the Pashtons for recieving help from other interested parties shows your animosity despite your invalidated opinions about said history. 

The Mujahiddin were from hard core Islamiscists and idealistic moslems fighting against  agression. They were willing to help the Afghans fight for independence from Soviet rule. It was a mutual benefit between the locals and the foreigners. Much of the infighting that happened afterwards did not accur during the Soviet resistance. Pashtons, Tajiks, Uzbeks from Afghanistan itself held that singular purpose at that time.

The Taliban is an ideology that we mutually find aversive. Yet it was not specifically the sole domain of the Pashton ethnic identity. Maybe you forgot about the diverse ethnicities of taliban too.

The citizens of Afghanistan were invaded, led astray, involved in domestic wars and branded an extreme cultural identity.

You, in a similar vain, have created in one post a disservice to the Pashton people by your Talibanesque bigotry. You have not proven your hatred for them. You have only shown your lack of objectivity and partialism to anti-Pashton beliefs. You have not provided verification or links for your discriminating propaganda either. Unfortunately, you've made yourself out to look like the very enemy you chose to slander. 

Seko Ill post stuff with sources...not now but later....

Im from afghanistan and I have lived there long enough and from my personal experience I know that pashtons are sick. but like I said...ill prove to you that...taliban did not have support of non-pashtons...and also regardin russians n other stuff...

Ill get back to u later...

So what your trying to say is that 100% of Pathans are pro-Taliban?

what rubbish, if thats the case then why has there been so many Pathans migrating from Afghanistan to Britain and other nations. If you are from Afghanistan then you should be thanking the Mujahidin for saving you from the Russions. Fine the Taliban wasnt too good either but atleast you were not disgraced by the occupation of foreiners.

Osmanli u make me sick in the stomach!....you obviously have no clue about taliban..all u care is that they were 'muslims' and cannot be bad! and its better to be killed by muslims than foreigners....damn you islamists!

THE first detailed eyewitness accounts of the massacre of up to 8,000 people by Islamic fundamentalist Taliban fighters who ran amok in the northern Afghan city of Mazar-e-Sharif last August have been passed to western governments.

Testimony compiled by international observers and handed to western diplomats in Pakistan reveals that hundreds of people were packed into containers where they suffocated when the doors were locked in the searing midday heat. Men, women and children were shot in their homes and on the street, and hospital patients were murdered in their beds.

The massacre occurred when, during an offensive aimed at seizing full control of Afghanistan for the first time, Mazar-e-Sharif was overrun by the Taliban, who have imposed the world's most extreme interpretation of Islam, barring women from education, banning television and forcing men to wear beards.

Statements made available to The Sunday Times describe a campaign of slaughter directed against a Shia Muslim minority, the Hazara. The evidence, regarded by experienced aid officials as "highly credible", paints a ghastly picture of butchery and rape as the Taliban shot and cut the throats of Hazaras.

The claims are supported by the influential American group Human Rights Watch, which is due to reveal its own findings on the massacre today and will call on the United Nations to investigate what it describes as "one of the single worst examples of killings of civilians in Afghanistan's 20-year war".

The detailed evidence of Taliban atrocities will embarrass western policymakers who still see the fundamentalists as useful players in a modern "great game" to keep Iranian and Russian influence out of Afghanistan and so ensure that the huge oil and gas riches of central Asia remain a prize for western multinationals.

Ten diplomats from Tehran were among those who died, prompting Iran to mass 200,000 troops on its border with Afghanistan to bolster demands for the killers to be handed over for trial. Troop "manoeuvres" were due to begin yesterday.

Based on eyewitness statements, The Sunday Times has pieced together an account of the nightmare that engulfed Mazar-e-Sharif when the Taliban entered the city from the west on the morning of August 8. They were intent on avenging a massacre of some 2,000 of their own men in 1997, when the Hazaras and other fighters turned against them.

There ensued what one witness called "a frenzy" of vengeance killing. The Taliban fighters swept through the city, firing heavy machineguns mounted on pickup trucks. One man described how the streets were covered with bodies and blood. The Taliban, he said, forbade anyone to bury the corpses for six days.

On the second day, according to numerous witnesses, the Taliban began a house-to-house search for Hazara men. Hazaras, descended from Mongols, are easy to recognise by their distinctive Asiatic features compared with the ethnic Pashtuns who make up the ranks of the Taliban. They share their Shia faith with Iran, while the Taliban are Sunni Muslims.

A witness whose testimony is described as "extremely reliable" by aid officials said most of the victims had been shot in the head, the chest and the testicles. Others had been slaughtered in what he called "the halal way" - by having their throats slit.

One housewife, who has since fled to Pakistan, said the Taliban entered her house and shot her husband and her two brothers dead. Then they cut the men's throats in front of the woman and her children.

Another piece of testimony explained why one Taliban was "very worried he might be excluded from heaven". He had personally shot people in nearly 30 houses, opting to kill them as soon as they opened the door. After killing the men in two homes, he learnt that they were not Hazara but Pashtun. "That he had killed people in 28 Hazara households seemed not to cause him any concern at all," the witness said.

Men not murdered on the spot were "stuffed into containers after being badly beaten", said another witness. He saw the doors opened on a container after all the men inside had died from suffocation.

He also testified that some containers were filled with children who were taken to an unknown destination after their parents had been killed.

Human Rights Watch has obtained gruesome confirmation of the Taliban's penchant for death by container. It quotes a man who was detained by the militia and saw container trucks filled with victims leaving the Mazar-e-Sharif jail several times every day.

Once he watched as the Taliban opened the container doors to find three prisoners alive and about 300 dead. The Taliban drove the trucks to a desert site known as Dasht-e-Leili and ordered porters to dump the cargo of corpses in the sands.

The Human Rights Watch report and other statements identify three Taliban leaders who appear to be guilty of incitement to kill victims purely because of their ethnic origin. They are:

Mullah Manon Niazi, the new Taliban governor of Mazar-e-Sharif. Numerous witnesses heard him make speeches at mosques and on radio inciting hatred of Hazaras. "Wherever you go we will catch you," he said. "If you go up, we will pull you down by your feet; if you hide below we will pull you up by your hair." One witness testified that Niazi personally selected prisoners to be consigned to the death containers.

Mullah Musa, the so-called director of public health. A witness said Musa toured a public hospital looking for Hazara patients to mark out for death. Later that day, the witness heard from a doctor that Musa had taken a group of gunmen to the army hospital, where they had murdered all 20 or so patients, and relatives who had been visiting them.

Maulawi Mohammed Hanif, a Taliban commander who announced to a crowd of 300 people summoned to a mosque that the policy of the Taliban was to "exterminate" the Hazaras.

International aid workers fear the killings are continuing following the recent fall of the central Afghan town of Bamiyan. They have said thousands of people remain unaccounted for.

Source: http://hrw.org/reports98/afghan/Afrepor0-02.htm - http://hrw.org/reports98/afghan/Afrepor0-02.htm

Searches and Summary Executions

In the Jail

8 The Taliban fly white flags from their vehicles.

9 These whips, which are either those used for controlling donkeys and horses or are refitted lengths of cable, are used by the Taliban's religious police of the Ministry for the Enforcement of Virtue and Suppression of Vice to exact punishment of persons who commit transgressions of the strict dress code or other edicts.

10 Abdul-Rab al-Rasul Sayyaf, head of the Pashtun faction Ittihad-i Islami, reportedly killed Hazara prisoners by locking them in a metal container and then building a fire around it. Malik reportedly dumped a container of Taliban prisoners in the Amu Darya river. While the facts in each case are difficult if not impossible to confirm, such reports have widespread currency, and the events described are treated as precedents and reasons for revenge.

Bang i never said that i liked the Taliban, which i just for the record i have never been a fan of them. I was just trying to show that you should be thanking the Mujahidin who came to your aid against the Russian. Instead you copy and pasted a whole lot about the Taliban when your orginal point was to show the supposedlly bad nature of the entire Pathan population.

Just curious what ethnicity are you?

did you guys even read the article?

the ethnic cleansing that took place when taliban took over afghanistan was unbelievable...you had to be there to see it....they shot at anythin that moved on the street for 5 days...we're locked up in our homes....they entered into homes and took away women...and shot the men, children...old men and women on the spot......they systematically massacred non-pashtons...what does that tell you about them?

Ill hate them for as long as I live for killing my relatives and my people. their foot soldiers, their commanders, their political leaders were all pashtons...they did not have a single non-pashton afghan...among them!

and osmanli...mujhaideens consisted of all ethnic groups..not just pathans. Infact it was general dostum who gave the russians the biggest blow by takin over northern afghanistan.

My ethnicity is uzbek but I wouldnt hate other people for no reason...ive a good reason to hate pashtons!

Bro, i feel for you i geniunly do, iam Turkish Cypriot. Were if you know the history about us then you will know that the T.Cypriots had to go through a lot too. I know its hard to not be angry angainst a whoe ethnic group but one must try, otherwise conflicts will never end and peace will never be attained.

Hade, kardesim benim soylediklerime yanis anama, senin iyiliginin icin soylerim

the taliban killed almost anyone from any ethinicity if they did not follow up on their wahhabi view on islam, let it be pashtun or else.

but they also ethnicly cleansed non-pashtuns. specially the persian speakers. like the hazzaris and tajiks.

in one village alone, they took all men, little boys, elder men, and killed them all at site. the village is with out men now. they tried to eliminate that ethnicity.

THE TALIBAN by no way represent the Pashtuns (nor ISLAM),  no way, they were america's creation. and supported by the evil wahhabi saudi bastards and osama bin laden(who was basically the de-facto leader of taliban). and we all know that wahhabis hate shias and persians and who ever is associated with them, led it be uzbeks or baluch.

I hope Afghanistan gets back on its feet, its a great nation with a beautiful land and people. these wars were caused by foreign intereference, those who dont want the afghans to be united.

bang, I'm sorry for your loss. But hating them (all Pashtuns who almost all had nothing to do with what happened) won't get you anywhere and won't bring back your losses.

Try to think of the future, LEARN from people of Rwanda, they basically have forgiven the ones invovled in genocide. and they are trying to move on and spread friendship and brotherhood even after the other ethinicity was terrible to another.

Persian wrote:

- THE TALIBAN by no way represent the Pashtuns (nor ISLAM),  no way, they were america's creation. and supported by the evil wahhabi saudi bastards and osama bin laden(who was basically the de-facto leader of taliban). and we all know that wahhabis hate shias and persians and who ever is associated with them, led it be uzbeks or baluch.

I think the Pakistanis had a bigger connection with the Taliban than the Americans.

"The Taliban emerged as a reformist force -- honest, fierce and devoutly Islamic. Most had gone as refugees to Pakistan, where they studied in the religious schools. The Taliban are widely alleged to be the creation of Pakistan's military intelligence." http://www.cnn.com/WORLD/9610/05/taleban/ - http://www.cnn.com/WORLD/9610/05/taleban/

The Taliban is also a creation of ignorant and closed minded indoctrinations.

EDIT: taliban whas supported by the USf**kingA against sovjets, then later they just invade that country.

I dont really know if USA was involved with taliban...but arabs especially saudi arabia & UAE helped them financially and pakistan trained them and also provided air support...espcially in herat...they bombed that city.

Osmanli...yeah I understand what you mean...but taliban were somthing else.

when they came to mazar...the local pashtons suddenly changed..and guided taliban to wealthy uzbeks..tajiks & hazara homes...they did everything they cud to humiliate us.

and persian...they did not kill pashtons in 100s n 1000s. How could they kill their own people? it just doesnt make sense...politically

Anyways enuf said....llets get over this topic...

So you don't feel that it's necessary for you to try and prove your point on this subject? Come on, you can at least try. Lets see them facts.

You seem to have mixed politics with your history. What part of Pashton society still relies on Iran? I really am not informed about this stuff as you may be. So a little info would help.

The only parties that are relied to Iran are the Hazaras of Bamian.  The Tajiks were sidelined by the Iranians for a very long time because they were Sunnis, up until a few years before 9/11 when they finally started giving arms to fellow Tajik Persian speakers in Panjsher who would also receive aid from Russia and India.  The Uzbeks never received arms from Iran, they received theirs from Russia via Uzbekistan and possibly Turkmenistan.

You are correct, Afghanistan does claim Rumi as being one of their own, but I think only in terms of historically, not ethnically because today Balkh is inhabited by mostly Uzbeks and Hazaras. 

Historical scholars confirm he was from Balkh, but not necessarily Afghanistan, but possibly in Tajikistan that at the time was part of the dominion of Balkh (ancient Bactria).  Though I doubt even he would even consider him Tajik, but a Balkhi.  Read the following quote: 

Rumi was never obsessed with his ethnicity, or race,  as Turkish, Afghan, Iranian nationalists were (maybe still are) today.  

He was in love with his religion and the last thing anybody should do is claim that he was their nations only, which would be like spitting on his grave.   All he asked was for unity and peace, and unfortunately all we can offer him today is ethnocentrism and racism.  This must change.

BULLOCKS! stop talkin from ur rear end!....uzbekistan & turkmenistsan never ever helped us.

Bang, wake up and smell the Chai.  Previously you quoted RAWA.org for human rights abuses, have you even read what RAWA has said about Dostum?

This one speaks worlds about him:

Link to Article:  http://www.rawa.org/dostum2.htm - http://www.rawa.org/dostum2.htm

There were no innocent parties in the Civil War, one day you will come to realization about that.  And dont play this game that 'you can't say anything because I lost family.'  I too, have lost family, every Afghan on this planet has lost family because of the war.  Hafizullah Amin ordered the death of 1/3 of my mothers family.  That still does not give you any excuse to speak rude to other members, let alone push racism against Pashtuns because Pashtuns are human beings too.

What i was saying is that not a single weapon came thru uzbekistan or turkmenistan.

Forget about providing weapons to Dostum...they didn even allow his plane to land when he Gen. Malik switched sides. Again it was Turkey who provided refuge for him.

C'mon man...Its the negative press about Dostum. the foreign journalists were always in kabul and they got their news those who were in kabul...and as u know it very well that they are all anti-dostum.

Pashtons humanbeings?

Turkey provided Refuge, but he escaped to UZBEKISTAN first.  Afterwards, he fled to Iran, and FINALLY, Turkey.

Refer to this article written by Radio Free Europe about Dostum:

"The Taliban's ascension proved too powerful for Dostum, however, thanks in part to his onetime "foreign minister" and later rival, Abdul Malik. Dostum was ousted from his Mazar-e Sharif stronghold and his surrounding mini-state in 1997, and eventually forced to flee to Uzbekistan, Iran, then Turkey."

http://www.rferl.org/featuresarticle/2005/03/4cf98ae3-c998-4245-ba20-f820362a15f0.html - http://www.rferl.org/featuresarticle/2005/03/4cf98ae3-c998-4 245-ba20-f820362a15f0.html

As for Uzbekistan, Russia, and others giving support to his party, it is common knowledge.  Refer to this article written by the University of Maryland in regards to Risk Assessment for Afghanistan's Minorities. 

" Furthermore, material and diplomatic support from Iran, Russia, and Central Asian republics (including Uzbekistan) provide the Uzbeks with the means to continue rebellion."

Source: http://www.ecoi.net/doc/en/AF/content/5/761-778#s1390 - http://www.ecoi.net/doc/en/AF/content/5/761-778#s1390

NO political-ethnic armed faction is innocent of crimes

against the Afghan people.

Bang, we do not tolerate such bigotry here, please restrain yourself and your language. please look at the wider picture, I know your feelings on this issue are strong.

Thats NOT true!...His plane entered uzbek airspace WITHOUT any permission and uzbek authorities made it clear to him that he cannot stay there and thats when Turks said He can come to turkey. After refueling at termiz airport... he flew directly to Turkey.... he never ever stepped into Iran!

ill informed sources!...If Turkmenistan & Uzbekistan supported junbesh (dostum's faction) they wud have given him refuge when he needed the most...but he was turned away instead.

And again since you can't defend your pashton taliban....you blame all the factions!

Bang,

Just to say "Its not true" doesn't hold any water.  Since when has the  Uzbekistan government been honest?  Since when did Uzbek government become a 'trusted' source of information and independent Western news and research centers become 'ill informed' ?

Wake up Bang, your real motivation is not about revealing 'human right atrocities' otherwise you would be rather vocal about a number of different atrocities that have been discussed.  The only topic you've ever been vocal about is this one about Pashtuns.

For some reason, Uzbekistans atrocities against Tajiks and their own fellow countrymen fall on your deaf ears!

Bang you asked for info on the Uzbek empire well here you are...

Your ancesters would have looked something like the image below:

I have to agree with bang on this one, though I hate to admit. He is a little extreme. I mean obviously not all of them are bad people, not even a majority. But there is a large portion of the population that did support the Taliban and radical elements in the government. So I must say that they did a lot of damage and murdering.

But I think the really evil behind all of this is radical Islam. I mean I have no problem with the religion itself, but it tends to be more extremist than other religions and has killed many peoples under its banner and destroyed many cultures. If the Pashtos, Tajiks, Uzbeks, and Hazaras were not muslims, then maybe they could come together under the banner of being Afghani. And maybe Iran and Afghanistan wouldn't be stuck over this Shia/Sunni BS and they would unite to form a more efficient and stronger nation.

What!!! i believe that more people have died under the name of Christianity then under the name of Islam. How do you think Christianity spread so fast, by peace?

Ever heard of the Christion fundementalist group known as the IRA???

Their aim is for a united Ireland just as the PLO wants a united Palestine, however one is labelled as an Islamic extremist

The media has done well in brain washing i see

man you are soo thick...where did I qoute uzbek sources? I was tellin you about what really happened and its the fact....you are obviously a pathan and never been to northern afghanistan...

If you are refering to mistreatment of taliban prisoners...then let me tell u...they deserved every bit of torture!...the difference between us and you pathans is that....we dont mistreat or torture UNARMED CIVILIANS while thats the only thing u pathans did when u came to norhtern afghanistan.

Mr. pathan...im not from uzbekistan and I dont know what goes on inside that country...and frankly speakin its none of my business...

Im here to reveal how corrupt and thick you pathans are! now deal with it!

Talibans = pashtons...end of discussion...

They never fought in highly pashton populated areas such as southern & eastern Afghanistan.

even in northern afghanistsan....the local pashtons helped taliban consolidate their power by guidin them to peoples houses ...looting and etc.

I wasn't talking about Christians. Otherwise I would have said yes, fundamental Christians killed many pagans in Europe, in the middle east with their stupid crusades (everybody thinks the crusaders were heros, I think they were killers). And yes they still kill today.

But I will leave Europe to deal with that menace, it is their issue. By gripe with Islam is the number of my brothers and sisters it has killed.

Actually I shouldn't say Islam, but u know I mean the fundamentalists not the religion.

Bang,

You have YET to show me any PROOF that Dostum only landed in Turkey or whatever.  You claimed it, now PROVE it.  Your anger clouds every judgement you have ever made.  Ofcourse when I post something about Dostum in the SAME website you quoted your own atrocities, you dont believe it!  Soon you will say RAWA is "Pashtun."

We ALL know that the Taliban committed many atrocites across Afghanistan and even Pakistan, from Herat to Islamabad.  They massacred mostly Hazaras in Yakaolang, and even had a 'scorched-earth' policy among Tajiks.  We all know that they wanted to destroy ethnic minorities who disagreed with their Wahabi/Deobandi beliefs.

We all know that even Ahmad Shah Massoud, the Lion of Panjsher was accused of committing atrocites in Kabul under his command.  We all know the Pashtun guerilla leader Gulbuddin Hekmatyar, is nick named the "Butcher of Kabul" for his incessant bombings of Kabul after he was sidelined from power.  And as for the Uzbeks who took control of Kabul under Dostum?  C'mon Bang, do I have to FIND everything for you?

A young woman who left her home in Mycrorayan 3 in Kabul for Peshawar after the January 1994 fighting told Amnesty International of a rape which her father had described to her.

"One day when my father was walking past a building complex, he heard screams of women coming from an apartment block which had just been captured by forces of General Dostum. He was told by the people that Dostum's guards had entered the block and were looting the property and raping the women."

A teacher who left Kabul for Pakistan in mid-1994 told Amnesty International that her parents were frightened that she and other women in the family might be raped by members of the warring factions.

"I was frightened of becoming dishonoured by the armed guards, so we left Kabul. My neighbour was a middle-aged lady and had young sons. This woman was in the nearby shop when Dostum guards raided the shop. They got hold of the shop-keeper and took him away. They locked this woman in the shop for about one and a half hours. They then let her go. She came to us and told us to leave as soon as we could. She said she had been dishonoured by the guards. We knew we had to leave."

Some armed guards target women from ethnic minorities they regard as enemies. The following testimony was given by a 40-year-old woman who came to Peshawar in late 1993. In Kabul, she lived in Deh Dana area.

"First, the forces of Hezb-e Islami began to fire rockets on our residential area from the Chel Sotoon mountains. After that, the forces of General Dostum came to the city. They are known as Gelim Jam (carpet-takers). These guards were only looking for Pashtun people, and would not actually kill non-Pashtuns. We were not Pashtun, so at least our lives were spared... The next day armed guards of Hezb-e Islami came to us. They carried out a lot of atrocities. For example, a number of young women in our street were raped by them. One young woman was taken away by them and a few days later her body was found somewhere in the city."

Oh and as for Northern Afghanistan and Pashtuns 'leading' Taliban to Mazar.  Was it not the Uzbeks and Hazaras who rampage and pillaged Pashtun homes in Balkh BEFORE the Taliban advanced to retake Mazar?

Furthermore, is it not the Uzbeks of Mazar are still FIGHTING with Atta's ethnic Tajik people for control of Samangan, and other provinces in the north?  

Not only is Dostum NOT innocent, he is a war criminal in the same line as Mulah Omar, Massoud, Marshall Fahim, Gulbuddin, Palwan, etc, and they should be tried for all their crimes against the Afghan people and for perverting Islam for political gain.