OUTSIDE JALRES (Afghanistan), Nov 16: Several hundred Hazara militia from Afghanistan’s central highlands were marching on the gates of Kabul on Friday in a bid to defend their fellow Shias against what they said persecution by the Tajik-dominated Northern Alliance.

The Hazaras, who come from the central Bamiyan province and claim to be descendants of Genghis Khan and the Mongols of legend, are demanding equal rights with the Sunnis under Afghanistan’s post-Taliban regime. However Abdul Karim Khalili, head of the Hazaras’ main Hezb-i-Wahdat faction, said in the town of Jalres, 40 kilometres west of Kabul, that his troops had no plans to stage a Northern Alliance-style storming of Kabul.

“We don’t have any intention of entering Kabul. We are gathering our forces outside the city in order to maintain security in places such as Jalres and (neighbouring) Syakhak,” Khalili said.

The Hazara leader Said Hussein Anwari, said the Hazaras wanted a UN peacekeeping force to be deployed in the still-unstable Afghan capital.

“We want to see UN troops in Afghanistan as the (anti-Taliban) United Front agreed. There should be no armed factions inside Kabul apart from the blue helmets,” Khalili said.—AFP