With escalation of insecurity across Afghanistan, general threat to life of the people has also become manifold. More number of civilians fall prey to terror attacks while the insurgents never lose the chance of targeting individuals working for the government, national and international NGOs, foreign civil and military missions and the media. As the withdrawal date of US-led NATO forces from Afghanistan nears, fears among common Afghans especially among those with aforementioned engagements have increased like never in the last 12 years. Additionally, growing insecurity is causing the businessmen and investors to escape the country before they see their capital drowned.

Working for Afghan government is not safer anymore. As of recent, the insurgents have killed two high government officials in Logar province. Noor Agha Akbar and Naqibullah Salak senior officials of Ministry of Agriculture, Irrigation and Livestock (MAIL) were first abducted and then killed while they had gone for a field visit to Logar. The officials are said to have been highly skilled and professional. Although the presidential palace, in a statement, has condemned the incident, insecurity and targeted killing seems to be going out of control of the government. Such killings do much to discourage Afghan professionals working in various fields.

Earlier this month, the Taliban beheaded two children in Kandahar. The boys who were 10 and 16 years old respectively had collected food waste from a trash bin in the area of a security checkpoint and the Taliban insurgents doubted them for spying for Afghan National Security Forces (ANSF). On this incident we had said that if Taliban can behead minors just for doubt of spying, they would have no mercy for those directly work the Afghanistan National Security Forces (ANSF), US and international forces and government and non-government entities. 

Over the past 12 years, the insurgents have not spared people linked to Afghan government and international troops/organizations, whenever they have found an opportunity. Many such people have been caught and slaughtered by Taliban while travelling from one province to the other. Afghan translators, interpreters and other people working of US and other country’s military forces face growing threats to their life. 

Such is the condition in Afghanistan when tens of thousands of foreign troops are still deployed in here and the country has a 352,000-strong force. If an appropriate solution to the Afghan conflict is not reached within the next one or two years, the insurgents would massacre the innocent people and their first target would be the people who work for the government, US-led NATO troops, NGOs and other foreign organizations as they are considered worse than infidels.