Afghan Kurd claims more than 350,000 Kurds live in Afghanistan

ERBIL (Kurdistan 24) – Muhammed Nadir, a Kurd from Afghanistan, on Saturday told Kurdistan 24 that more than 350,000 Kurds live in Afghanistan.

After seeing Younes Mohammed’s exhibition in the Kurdistan Regional Government’s (KRG) office in Washington, Nadir looked back at Kurdish history in Afghanistan.  

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He said that Kurds have lived in areas comprising of present-day Afghanistan long before the establishment of its modern state.  

“Kurds were in power in the 13th and 14th centuries. But our nation (the Kurds) came to Afghanistan during Ahmad Shah Abdali's reign and settled there,” he added.

Nadir hopes Kurds living in Afghanistan will get to know their brethren from other parts of the world.

“Everything I have heard and read about the Kurds is here in pictures. Especially the picture of Mullah Mustafa Barzani, Mr. Barzani's father. I saw other pictures about Kurdish culture and struggle," he stated.

Regarding the Kurdish population in Afghanistan, Nadir revealed that “There are about 350,000 to 385,000 Kurds in Afghanistan. They have all forgotten their native language.” 

The Kurdish Institute of Paris, however, estimates there are 200,000 Kurds living in Afghanistan.