Over a handful of days, representatives of the new regime in Afghanistan have made public statements condemning the Tajik government over what it has described as meddling in internal Afghan affairs.
The verbal barbs are in part a response to repeated demands from Dushanbe that a future Afghan government include more ethnic Tajiks in its ranks.
Tajik President Emomali Rahmon doubled down on his criticism of the Taliban in an address to the UN General Assembly on September 23, warning that “various terrorist groups are actively using the unstable military-political situation in Afghanistan in order to strengthen their positions.”
As long as Tajikistan hosts the Afghan Republic’s government-in-exile, the Taliban will have a legitimate complaint about the government of Tajikistan meddling in Afghanistan.
The Pashtuns and the Tajiks are the first and second largest ethnicities in Afghanistan. The Afghan government holed up in Tajikistan is led by Acting President Amrullah Saleh, and military leader Ahmad Massoud. Both Saleh and Massoud are ethnic Tajiks. Their stated goal is to take Afghanistan back from the Taliban. The Taliban is essentially the Pashtun national guard. The Taliban will commit atrocities against the Tajiks, just to make a point. The government of Tajikistan understands who the Taliban are.
Neither side has a lot of room to give.
See also:
–Russia Urges Calm Between Ally Tajikistan, Afghanistan
–‘Useless’: Taliban Say Amrullah Saleh’s ‘Govt In Exile’ Won’t Be Able To Deceive World