Ethnic, Religious Divides in Afghanistan Contribute to Violence

Close to a hundred Afghan Shiite Muslims were killed in attacks on mosques in October 2021. One such attack took place on Oct. 15, when a group of suicide bombers detonated explosives at a mosque in Kandahar. Just over a week before that, at least 46 people were killed in another suicide bomber attack in northern Afghanistan. The Islamic State group claimed responsibility for both attacks. Ethnicity and religion are key to understanding the politics and conflicts of today's Afghanistan. My research on Afghan affairs can explain how they have created fault lines that have influenced Afghanistan's politics since 1978.