Reliable sources in Kabul have told NIMRUZ TV that Taliban Justice Minister Abdul Hakim Sharaei summoned two senior Hazara officials to his office and allegedly reprimanded, insulted and humiliated them during a meeting.
According to the sources, Sharaei contacted Madar Ali Karimi, deputy minister of urban development, and Abdul Latif Nazari, deputy minister of economy, on Sunday night and instructed them to report to the Justice Ministry in the Darul Aman area of Kabul on Monday morning.
The sources said Karimi and Nazari met with the justice minister from approximately 9 a.m. to 11 a.m. During the meeting, Sharaei allegedly criticized and verbally insulted the two officials.
Mohammad Hassan Ghiasi, deputy minister of public health and another senior Hazara official within the Taliban administration, was also reportedly summoned to the meeting but declined to attend, according to the sources.
Karimi and Nazari are among the most senior Hazara figures serving in the Taliban administration. There is currently no Hazara or Shia minister in the Taliban cabinet.
The reported confrontation comes amid growing tensions between some Hazara and Shia residents and the Taliban Justice Ministry over the planned eviction of residents from Omid Sabz township in western Kabul.
A Taliban special court previously declared more than 1,500 jeribs of land in the township to be state-owned. The Justice Ministry subsequently gave residents a deadline to vacate their homes.
The sources did not provide detailed information about the issues discussed during the meeting. However, the reported summons of senior Hazara officials amid the dispute over Omid Sabz could point to growing tensions between elements of the Taliban administration and some of the Hazara figures within its own governing structure.
NIMRUZ TV has not independently verified the allegations of insults or humiliation during the meeting. The Taliban have not issued an official response to the report.
