4.8.6. Uzbeks

4.8.6. Uzbeks

Around 9 % of Afghanistan's population are ethnic Uzbeks. They are Sunnis, belong to the Turkic peoples and live both in rural areas (including Jawzjan, Takhar, Faryab, Baghlan, Sar-e Pol) and in urban centres (Mazar-e Sharif, Kabul, Kandahar, Laschkargah, etc.). They are bilingual and, in addition to Uzbek they also speak Dari.1847

A UN report published in September 2023 noted that members of inter alia the Uzbek community have continued to allege that the removal of their languages as official curriculum languages constitutes an ‘attack’ on their linguistic heritage.1848 Amu TV noted that the National Uzbek Language Day had largely gone unrecognised under Taliban rule,1849 and Human Rights Watch reported that there is ‘virtually no media in minority languages like Uzbek’.1850

Earlier reports suggest that Uzbeks have also been involved in land disputes. While the UN Analytical Support and Sanctions Monitoring Team noted ‘persistent reports’ in 2022 of what they referred to as ‘a deliberate and seemingly organized campaign by Pashtuns to dislodge ethnic Tajik, Turkmen and Uzbek communities from rich agricultural land in the north’,1851 ACAPS noted in 2023 that land disputes should not only be analysed ‘through the lens of ethnicity’ although disputes have been politicised for ethnic mobilisation in the past – such disputes are ultimately about resources according to this source.1852

In June 2025, dozens of protesters were arrested by the de facto authorities in Faryab Province after demonstrating against the de facto local police command in Daulatabad District. The protests were triggered by the arrest of several young Uzbeks accused of harassing girls, and protesters chanted slogans praising the Uzbek former warlord Abdul Rashid Dostum1853