Yesterday, people in Ghor province got to the streets for a mass demonstration in the support of the victims of Kunduz. They expressed their condolences for the losses of victims and demanded from the government that the culprits in the government and security forces, whose laziness or negligence gave birth to this incident, should be punished. They also chanted slogans against Taliban and their atrocities.

Kunduz is still not completely cleared from the Taliban militants and our security forces are busy in house-to-house search of Taliban militants. On the other hand, Taliban are exerting all their power to get back the control of the city. In this encounter, once again our forces proved that they are brave and ready to fight and defeat Taliban. On the other hand, role of a number of government officials and high-ranked military officers was doubtful. At night when less than one thousand Taliban captured the city, there were almost 10,000 security forces in the city but they were given orders to leave the city without any resistance. This condition left the innocent civilians on the mercy of ruthless Taliban and later events proved that all the fears from Taliban were very meaningful. Taliban committed different kind of crimes and human rights activists accused them of committing serious crimes against humanity. They tortured the innocent civilians, they looted the houses and businesses, they killed innocent citizens, and set houses on fire. In short, they did everything to prove that they do not believe in any religion or good deeds and their only intention is to harm Afghanistan and its citizens.

This incident did many works at the same time. It increased mass hatred against Taliban and shut the mouths of those who talked in their favor. It showed that they are the enemies of our country and we need to fight them together. Secondly, it brought into light the lack of capacity of President Ghani, Chief Executive Abdullah and other members of the government are facing the storm of public criticism. It is the time government should think honestly if they can protect their citizens and run the country properly or they should step down to let people elect their true representatives. This incident also fostered the feeling of love and respect for our security forces. Once again, people are expressing their love, admiration and appreciation of the sacrifices of our security forces. Similarly, this incident brought people closer to each other. After the collapse of Kunduz city Afghans felt the need of standing together to fight the menace of Taliban. They have realized that Taliban is the mutual enemy of every Afghan and we need to stand united to fight them.

In the same way, the incident of MSF hospital needs thorough and transparent investigation. Doctors without Borders (MSF) were running the free hospital in the city and it was one of the main hospitals of the city where satisfactory services were given to the patients. The hospital was bombarded by American warplanes when Taliban had left the area and this sad incident left behind more than 20 dead and injured which included of both the patients and the medical staff. The reason of this mistake is still unclear and both American forces and Afghan forces are blaming each other. On the other hand, United Nations has declared it a war crime. A thorough investigation has been ordered by Afghan government. However, MSF has closed down the hospital and it is a big loss for the Afghans as this international organization has been providing quality medical services for long now and they operate at all conditions and under any regime as they are considered to be neutral. We are hopeful that proper investigations will be carried out, the perpetrators of this mistake will be punished and Afghan government should work to persuade the MSF to reopen their hospital and provide them with all the help needed in this regard. Kunduz tragedy also became a reason for the change in the tone of the government. The other day, President Ghani stated that terrorist groups including Taliban, criminals and foreign terrorists, carried out Kunduz attack. It is the change from his previous statements after calling the enemies of Afghanistan terrorists. The crimes committed against humanity by Taliban have changed the viewpoints of many and it is the time that government should stop any effort of negotiations with Taliban as these efforts have not given any result in past and should start a full-fledged operation for the clean-up of Taliban from the country. At the same time, it is also necessary that National Directorate of Security (NDS) should be allowed to arrest those who are among the government lines and are secretly helping the Taliban and other terrorist elements for their petty benefits.

Kunduz incident has given us all an opportunity to get united against terrorism and make all out efforts, be it in the battlefield or the social setup, to reject them, kill and eliminate them so that the dreams of a peaceful and developed Afghanistan should be sought.