Afghanistan Times
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AT News Report-KABUL: The Hajj and Religious Affairs Department in the eastern province of Nangarhar rejected allegations raised by the powerful lawmaker Zaher Qadir as seminaries there were used as recruitment centers for Daesh terrorist group.
Nangarhar was the first stronghold of Daesh terrorist group when it emerged in Afghanistan in early 2015. The group chose Achin district as its first hideout from where it organized and commanded attacks against people of Afghanistan.
LalitaHemmat, head of the provincial department, said Saturday that there was nothing to show the seminaries were turned to the Daesh recruitment centers.
“All the seminaries are under the control of hajj and religious affairs department and teaching extremis is not possible there,” said Hemmat.
More than 400 seminaries were used as the Daesh recruitment centers in Nangarhar, Qadir alleged. He added that the terrorist group had an active presence in the province despite the government’s efforts to eliminate it and was using the Tora Bora heights as its strategic center.
The US military dropped the largest non-atomic bomb named as mother of all bombs in the Achin district last year to target Daesh group. The bomb dropping sparked hope among the people regarding the reduction of Daesh activities in Nangarhar, but the group is still active there.
Meanwhile, some religious scholars say they were concerned over the increase of extremism in seminaries, asking the government to make serious decisions to prevent this.
“Seminaries are necessary in Afghanistan, but their curriculum need to be controlled. Experienced teachers should tell students how a pure and real Muslim behaves with people,” said EhsanolhaqHanafi, a religious scholar.
