AhlulBayt News Agency (ABNA): A local source in west Kabul, who spoke on condition of anonymity for security reasons, said many residents welcome the decline in armed clashes and street violence in recent years. “Security is not only the absence of explosions and street fighting,” the source said. Large numbers of people are simultaneously dealing with joblessness, falling incomes and the daily struggle to meet basic needs. Combined with social and religious concerns, this has eroded any feeling of calm for many households.
A recent World Bank assessment underscores the economic pressure. Despite overall growth in Afghanistan’s economy, the benefits have not reached ordinary people evenly. Per capita GDP is projected to fall by about 5.6 percent in 2025. Inflation, weak investment, the return of millions of migrants and limited job opportunities continue to squeeze household livelihoods. The Bank has identified high youth unemployment, restricted private-sector access to finance and low investment as key barriers to sustainable employment.
In west Kabul, unemployment and poverty rank among the most pressing worries. Even those with modest capital to start a small business face multiple obstacles and struggle to create a reliable income, the local source said. “When a person does not know whether he will have work tomorrow, how he will cover the rent and food for his family, and at the same time is worried about his social and religious position, you can no longer say he has psychological security.”
Residents link the heightened unease directly to events surrounding the Khatam al-Nabiyyin seminary, one of the largest Shia educational centres in Afghanistan. On 5 September (14 Shahrivar), Taliban forces surrounded the complex. After two days they evacuated teachers and students and sealed the building. Seminary officials reported the detention of 28 teachers and students; at one point they said 24 remained in custody. Subsequent reports spoke of the arrest of several Hazara and Shia elders in Kabul, some of whom had attended meetings about the seminary’s situation.
“Since the seminary was closed and a number of clerics and figures whom people regard as their representatives or elders were detained, a kind of fear has settled among families,” one west Kabul resident said. Economic hardship has been a long-standing burden, residents note, but the perception that religious institutions, mosques or community leaders may not be safe has raised sharper concerns about identity and rights.
Seminary officials have described the Taliban’s actions as politically and religiously motivated. The Taliban have rejected that characterisation. The Justice Ministry has attributed the dispute to questions of land ownership and alleged links between the complex and a political party. Independent verification of a purely religious motive has not been established. Nevertheless, the coincidence of pressure on several Shia-linked institutions and figures has increased fears of discrimination among some residents of west Kabul.
Local sources also report a visible increase in Taliban forces in parts of the area in recent days. They speculate the deployment may be connected to sensitivities following the seminary evacuation and related arrests, though Taliban authorities have not confirmed any such link.
Over the past five years, segments of the Shia community had pursued a path of engagement with the Taliban administration despite deep disagreements over political participation, religious rights and governance. Many clerics and social figures sought to advance community demands through dialogue. Residents now worry that the recent measures against the seminary and the detention of prominent individuals risk undermining that approach.
For many in west Kabul the core issue is no longer physical security alone. People want to know whether they can plan for their children’s education, their livelihoods and their families’ future without fear of sudden action against their religious and social institutions. The gap, residents say, is between security and the feeling of security. Streets may be quieter than during the years of open conflict, yet for a portion of the Shia population, economic precarity and uncertainty about the fate of their religious centres and leaders continue to leave genuine peace of mind out of reach.
Your Comment