The despicable attack on a restaurant owned by a Lebanese by the Taliban insurgents, which led to the death of 13 foreigners including IMF head and four UN staff and 8 Afghans on Friday, has shocked Kabul. It was a terrible tragedy both for the Afghanistan and for the foreign officials.
The UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon condemned the attack and paid tribute to Basra Hassan, a US citizen of Somali origin, Nasrin Jamal of Pakistan – both health specialists for the UN children’s agency – Khanjar Wabel Abdallah of Lebanon and Vadim Nazarov of Russia.
Dozens of Kabul residents, including civil activists, paid tribute to the victims by launching a peaceful demonstration and condemned the deadly attack. They urged all parties involved in political conflict to end violence and terrorist attack. The statements also said that the cases of those who were detained in connection with terrorist activities should be reviewed and urged the government to end its multi-dimensional policy towards the prisoners.
This recent news compounded earlier reports that at least seven Afghan policemen were killed or injured following an improvised explosive device (IED) explosion in northern Sar-e-Pul province of Afghanistan.
At present, the Taliban have multiplied their acts of terror by inflicting heavy casualties on Afghan people. It is obvious that that the Taliban are victimizing Afghans more than before. It is because some prisoners were released from Bagram prison by the government. But does it matter to the government?
According to Bokhdi news, in a recent clash, in Siah Gird District of Parwan province, between Taliban insurgents and Afghan police along with foreign forces, Molavi Abdul Rahman, one of the Taliban’s head who was released from Bagram prison, broke into a neighboring house, to use it as a fort. Despite the owners’ pleading, he did not leave the house. Generally, in such clashes, Taliban enter houses by force, and use them as a safe haven to fight against national police or foreign forces. Hence, this is another way of causing casualties among the civilians.
This news reinforces many fears. First, the released prisoners rejoin their groups for carrying out terrorist acts. Secondly, in spite of vast numbers of casualties caused by Taliban insurgents, the presidential palace keeps silent about the incident. Will not this attitude of the palace arouse mistrust among the Afghan people?
In addition, a woman whose husband was killed on Friday’s attack accused President Karzai angrily and demanded to leave the presidential post if he cannot control the situation. She said that he had got the people killed and ruined. No doubt the victims’ families are firmly against the release of Taliban prisoners. They do not want the murderer of their kith and kin to be free to cause more casualties.
It is no secret that, the government did its best to gain the co-operation of the Taliban insurgents during the last 12 years of his presidency. According to popular belief, it is still supporting the Taliban in many ways, such as persisting in releasing more of their prisoners, asking US forces to stop night raids which will lead to great casualties of Taliban militants, taking no serious actions about uprooting narcotic which is a big advantage for the insurgents.
Perhaps, the passage of time will uncover these political secrets. Afghan men and women have suffered greatly not only due to the Taliban regime, but also by deliberate political injustice. In other words, releasing Taliban militants, refusing to sign Bilateral Security Agreement, especially after the agreement of Loya Jirga, has put Karzai in a collision course with Afghan people.
As a result, Bamyan people held a demonstration on Monday in support of signing the security pact. They mentioned in their manifesto about the negative impacts of the withdrawal of foreign forces. They pointed out that if foreign forces withdraw, the country will face many challenges such as a surge in terrorism, emergence of internal war, sectarian violence, economic constraints, etc. Moreover, it was stated that Afghan police are still in need of foreign military aid. Don’t you think that the possible challenges have been mentioned with pinpoint accuracy?
Politically, Afghanistan is in limbo and it is difficult to pass any positive judgment unless the foreign countries withhold their financial and military support. The rising insecurity shows that Afghan police are not capable of stabilizing the country.
It is reported that there are some insecure districts where the upcoming presidential election will not be conducted. Moreover, the insecurity has a direct impact on the participation of people in the election. Taliban militants have multiplied their terrorist acts to prevent from the vast majority of people participating in the election. Will ballot boxes remain empty in our insecure districts?
I don’t think so. I believe that it will pave the way for massive rigging. We know that in the last presidential election, many ballot boxes were fraudulently, filled up in government offices, in insecure parts of the country. To the surprise of Independent Election Commission, ballot boxes came full from insecure places where no election had been conducted. Even though, they were invalidated by the IEC, rigging took place to an undeniable extent.
Most probably, in the current sensitive position of the country, Taliban militants are the pawns in this political game. Many scenarios are being played behind smokescreen by political masterminds in the complicated stage of Afghanistan.
Within the last decade or sopeople gained nothing. They acquired a hatred for the government; governance exhausted their patience. These challenges have not changed. Which of these have been addressed during the last decade: poverty, insecurity, narcotic cultivation, official corruption or the issue of terrorism? So, what is the net result of the so called democracy within more than a decade? Perhaps, one may say that the Taliban are getting a good priority and the benefit of freedom of action.