The Afghan imbroglio

As the major stakeholders of the conflict in Afghanistan trade allegations against each other, the hapless country continues to bleed.

Whether it is the ruthless attacks of the Afghan Taliban, the massacre of citizens by Isis, the alleged blitzkriegs of the occupying forces or the storming of hideouts by the Afghan National Army in the remote areas of the country, it is the people that suffer. According to conservative estimates from August 2001 to August 2016, around104,000 people were killed in the invaded state while an additional 41,000 were injured.

Moreover, the war did not spare Pakistanis either. According to the Watson Institute, from the day US invaded Afghanistan up until August 2016, the combined death toll of the war in Pakistan and Afghanistan was 173,000 whereas more than 183,000 were wounded. Islamabad claims that it has lost over $100 billion because of the war, which has also badly damaged the country’s social fabric.

However, coming back to Afghanistan, while the level of misery already caused by bombs, missiles and other weapons has yet to be known, the stakeholders continue to add to the suffering of the people by turning a blind eye to their plight and instead concentrating on carving out an area of influence in the devastated country. It is now safe to say that there is no flicker of hope left in the eyes of millions of Afghans, especially the over 1.2 million who are internally displaced, who hear of nothing but destruction with each passing day.

Although neither of their citizens were involved in the attack on the twin towers, Pakistan and Afghanistan have been the worst victims of this war on terror while the country whose citizens masterminded the attack and perpetrated this brutal act enjoy cordial ties with US President Trump and his son-in-law. Unfortunately, the ruling elite of Pakistan and Afghanistan, instead of uniting against their common tormentor and seeking a regional solution for the issue, spare no chance of lambasting each other.

The Afghans had already been suffering because of the Taliban insurgency, the off-and-on bombing of their villages by foreign invaders, factionalism within Afghanistan’s political parties and the sledgehammer tactics of the ANSF. But now, the mysterious emergence of Isis seems to be adding to their woes. It appears that the pernicious tentacles of death and terror have tightened their grip over Afghans who have lost their loved ones to battles, invasions and internecine clashes. The ruthless outfit is discriminatory in its approach as its audacious attacks in Kabul last year have struck fear in the hearts of many. Some reports suggest that in 2017, it was not the Afghan Taliban who staged deadlier attacks in the war-torn country. Instead, it was this transnational terror group that had managed to surface in the landlocked state despite being wiped out from Syria and Iraq.

The emergence of this terror group poses a great challenge to the Afghanistan’s administration, Pakistan, America, Nato, Iran, Russia, China, Central Asian States and even India, which has recently witnessed some attacks in Occupied Kashmir – albeit minor in nature – by this band of sectarian radicals. So, the first thing that needs to be investigated is: how did this group manage to gain a foothold in a strife-ridden country under the watchful eye of the coalition forces? If they can detect Mullah Akhtar Mansour’s movement and the abductors of Canadian hostages, why did they fail to detect the movement of hundreds of foreign militants who sneaked into the eastern, southern and central parts of Afghanistan?

Should the Afghan parliament not take up this issue? Will it not be appropriate for the Afghan government to form a high-powered commission summoning ex-president Hamid Karzai who reportedly claimed the Americans supplied arms to these global jihadists? The highly anti-Pakistan elements in Kabul need to provide answer as to who they consider responsible for the emergence of Isis in their country.

Both Pakistan and the US have differing views about the Afghan Taliban. They are not global jihadists aspiring to establish a universal caliphate. Many – not only in Pakistan but also among intellectual elites of Europe and America – consider the Afghan Taliban as resistance fighters who are battling foreign occupiers. No matter how much scorn the US heaps on these fighters, it does not itself bracket them in the category of global jihadists who would mount attacks on American soil. It is an open secret that the US tried to hold clandestine talks with Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar, the deputy of Mullah Omar, and it is also now known that Washington helped the group to open an office in Doha.

However, the status of Isis is different. From Moscow to Washington and Tehran to Islamabad, all states view it as a global terror outfit. No country is in favour of holding talks with them. So a starting point could be that Pakistan, Afghanistan, America, Nato, and other regional states evolve a consensus over ways to fight Isis. Efforts should be launched to seek a truce with the Afghan Taliban who might be amenable to the idea of wiping out the jihadi outfit. It should be agreed upon that once the sectarian radicals are eliminated, the US would offer an exit strategy that would not only bring the Afghan Taliban to the table but also allay the fears of regional countries about the presence of foreign troops in Afghanistan. They tend to believe that the US is not there to restore peace but to keep an eye on regional countries.

If Pakistan has any influence over the Afghan Taliban, it should convince them to take part in elections as the militant outfit has no reason to reject democracy on religious grounds. If their ideological godfather, Maulana Samiul Haq, can accept funds from the PTI and strike an alliance with this ultra-modern party that not only brought a large number of women into politics but also promoted music and dance in its political gatherings, then why would the Taliban be reluctant to become a part of the democratic system? If their political mentor – Maulana Fazlur Rehman – can strike a deal with a liberal Musharraf and hobnob with a secular PPP in the past, what stops the Taliban from entering into talks with Ashraf Ghani, Abdullah Abdullah or Hamid Karzai – all of whom are more traditional, conservative and tribal-minded then the leadership of the PTI or the PPP?

The US government has spent or obligated $4.8 trillion on the wars in Afghanistan, Pakistan and Iraq. It is believed that close to a third of it was pumped into Afghanistan. Washington must have this amount audited and state who received how much in Afghanistan. It should announce a Marshall Plan-like package for Afghanistan whereas the assistance of China and India could also be sought in reconstructing the country. Remember, even a peaceful Afghanistan with rampant poverty is likely to descent into chaos again.

The writer is a freelance journalist.

Email: egalitarianism444@gmail.com