When Hazara civilians were killed and forced from their homes during Taliban offensives last fall, Mr. Ruttig said, the attacks were not motivated solely by hostility toward the ethnic group. The Taliban were extending their so-called emirate, under which they tax residents, including Hazaras. The insurgents also improved their military position for leverage at peace talks in Doha, Qatar.

Even so, Mr. Rutting said, “We need to see proof from the Taliban that they do not have an anti-Hazara or anti-Shiite policy.”

Mr. Naji, the Hazara political leader, also cited what he said had been pervasive neglect of Hazaras by the Pashtun-dominated Afghan government. He said the authorities had provided few public services to west Kabul, where Hazaras have no hospital but have built their own private schools, computer academies and successful small businesses.

Hazaras exhibit more liberal attitudes toward women’s rights than other Afghan groups, and many Hazaras serve in the police and the army, Mr. Naji said. Women would be subjected to punitive restrictions and Hazaras would be purged from the military and government if the Taliban returned, he said.

“The new Taliban generation is even more fundamentalist than the old one,” said Mr. Naji, who arrived for an interview in an armored vehicle accompanied by a bodyguard.

At Al Zahra mosque nearby, Mr. Sufi held court as a cluster of Hazara men and women sat cross-legged on the floor, listening intently as he cataloged the perils of negotiating with the Taliban.

“They can talk all they want in Doha,” Mr. Sufi said of the peace talks. “But there can be no good result.”