Taliban bans protests, following in Brotherhood's footsteps

The Taliban has apparently decided to follow in the footsteps of the Muslim Brotherhood.

This is especially true after the Afghan movement came to power.

It works tooth and nail to prevent rival political forces from repeating its own model.

In doing this, the Taliban forgets that it is in essence an armed movement.

The Taliban was alarmed by the protests that erupted in a number of Afghan cities in the second week of January.

Some movement leaders issued fatwas, in which they criminalized protests against the movement.

When it came to power in Egypt, the Muslim Brotherhood did the same.

Faryab protests

The northern Afghan province of Faryab witnessed ethnic unrest during the first half of January.

This unrest reached its climax on January 12 when Uzbeks and Pashtuns, who belong to the Taliban movement, fought against each other.

This heralded new splits within the movement.

The protests began with the clashes that took place between a number of Uzbek fighters, who joined the Taliban movement, which is controlled by the Pashtuns from the south and east of the country, along with other Uzbeks, with Taliban forces in Faryab district.

The clashes left four people dead and several others injured.

Meanwhile, hundreds of residents of Faryab province and Uzbek forces loyal to the Taliban demonstrated against the arrest of Makhdoom Muhammad Alam Rabbani, a senior Taliban leader from the Uzbek ethnic group.

After the Taliban intelligence arrested Rabbani, protesters gathered in Maimana to demand his release. The protests ended with mediation from the commander of the 209th Corps of Jaish al-Fateh, the governor of Jawzjan, the minister of agriculture, some officials in the Taliban-led government, and members of the Ulema Council in Faryab.