Just days before the conventional loya jirga on Bilateral Security Agreement (BSA) with the United States, a suicide bomber detonated his explosive-packed vehicle close to the venue where the jirga is due to be held. The explosion which occurred on Saturday caused death and injury to scores of people who are all civilians.

BSA is what the Taliban and other terror groups have strongly opposed and they have threatened to target the participants of the loya jirga called by President Hamid Karzai to endorse or reject the security pact. The jirga will be held on Thursday and will bring together around 3,000 tribal elders and civil leaders from across the country.  

The suicide bomber was successful despite strict security measures taken by Afghanistan National Security Forces (ANSF) in and around the Kabul city. Now, fears that the insurgents might have planned more attacks in Kabul before and during the loya jirga have multiplied, putting the life of common people at high risks.  

Loya Jirga on BSA has already cost life of a number of Afghans and much fund is being spent on it from the national budget. Additionally, it is going to waste much time of the public and government. At such a point one can ask the Afghan government: Does the jirga worth all these life and money at times when the same work could be done through the parliament, more legally and inexpensively? Representative of the people are present in both houses of the parliament and are tasked to take decision upon important national issues and BSA is also a national issue that should be finalized through national assemblies.

Although the government is mishandling the process of final decision-making on the BSA, the agreement is being deemed as very crucial for the future political and economic stability of Afghanistan and nurturing of its security forces. It should be understood that the insurgents would launch more horrific attacks than the one they launched on Saturday, if Afghanistan fails to obtain future military and non-military support from the US through the security pact. With the endorsement of the BSA, hopes of militants to regain power in Afghanistan will fade away and uncertainties about the future of the country would lessen.