Rashid Khan
The extensive debates, discussions, conferences and other events, which have been held at different occasions and forums, deliberated upon the need of continued Afghan Peace process, as it is the only political solution to the lingering Afghan conflict. With the passage of time, the security situation in Afghanistan is still oscillating between bad and worse. Some security experts opine that it could further deteriorate, if Afghan forces have not responded Taliban in the same coin of brutality. However, a huge criticism has surfaced against this argument, as it seems impossible for the Afghan forces to launch multiple, well coordinated and prolong operations against Taliban, due to lack of required reinforcement and corresponding heavy weapons. Besides, a very popular rationale that US and NATO forces for more than a decade; with all the latest war gadgetry failed to subdue Afghan Taliban, then how could the Afghan Forces would be able to do the left job with the available meager resources. Merely patting and words can not motivate the Afghan forces to fight the most resilient movement of Afghanistan.
Practically, Taliban had always maintained their traditional upper hand in fighting against the government forces. In most of the cases, either the Afghan ground forces have preferred to withdraw or put no resistance to opposing Afghan Taliban. Such unwilling approach to fight, by the self projected; dedicated and professional Afghan force, speaks volume of their inefficiency, lack of proper and inadequate training, dedication, and above all, the low morale of the Afghan troops. The much expected cleansing of Taliban by these unprofessional Afghan soldiers proved nothing but mere sacrificing the Afghan soldiers for all the ills of their so called leaders, who are only concerned with the interests of their mentors.
Experts opine that the increased causalities of the Afghan forces at the hands of Taliban or due to the result of the bombs or other explosive materials, collectively present a conclusion that in the absence of foreign forces in Afghanistan, the security situation had badly deteriorated. It also point towards the fact that the presence of foreign forces was crucial for the peace and prosperity of Afghanistan. Now, by having this proven data, one may compare the previous data of casualties of Afghan forces or the foreign forces, which would depict a glaring result, indicating the fact that some how during the presence of the foreign forces Taliban were kept under control. The moment, foreign troops diluted their presence in Afghanistan; Afghan Taliban took full advantage and captured most of the important areas in Afghanistan. Experts opine that the fact also implies that in future, if any decision regarding sending more US/ NATO troops to Afghanistan is considered, the said rationale, besides other factors could also offer them a plausible excuse for sending and maintaining their troops for longer period in Afghanistan.
Moreover, Afghan Taliban has also continued their offensive despite the onset of winter season and kept the Eastern, Southern as well as the Northern provinces under continuous pressure. They have demonstrated their capacity to carry out frequent attacks in all parts of Afghanistan including the capital, Kabul. Some experts are of the opinion that by gathering the data of these increased attacks, points towards a scenario, which represent an obvious trend of having the internal support, exploitation or collaboration of influential government security officials by the miscreants or terrorists. Besides, it also confirm that Taliban’s war potential, their sustainability and recovery mechanism is quite sophisticated than estimated by the Afghan government and the foreign forces.
Pakistan despite of its tense relations with India, expressed willingness to attend sixth Heart of Asia conference which was held in Amritsar. The adopted gesture was to reflect the commitment and willingness of Pakistan to contribute positively for bringing peace and prosperity for not only Afghanistan but the region and beyond. India and Afghanistan played a very negative role to degrade the efforts of Pakistan for facilitating the peace process, which could definitely dent the peace efforts in long term, as the present secretive peace meetings with the Taliban elements are not all the true and complete representation of actual stakeholders in Afghanistan. This flaw of the process could act as a catalyst to dilute the whole peace process. The recent events in Afghanistan are indicating that there is no serious development on the talks between the Taliban and the Afghan government after last month claims of Qatar dialogue. The only way left for peace in Afghanistan is through dialogue between the warring parties. Pakistan, China and Russia, have already expressed their strong support for positive efforts, as they considers that the peace in Afghanistan remains a precondition for the region and beyond.
Experts foresee that as a follow up of “Heart of Asia” conf at Amritsar, India would extend economic facilitations to Afghanistan while boasting about her huge investments made for the support of Afghan people. India has very wickedly orchestrated its game plan through creeping into Afghanistan by projecting her role as a reformer. Whereas, the ground reality contradicts any such role, even general Afghan public have noticed that almost all the Indian donated and developed projects are sub standard having the lowest quality of material and work, as frequent repairs are always required ,despite of newly raised constructions. India’s increasing influence in Afghanistan’s security, political, diplomatic, social, and religious spheres have increased manifolds. However, Afghanistan must distinguish between friends and foes, as continued strife in the country coupled with sprouting of Daesh activities in Afghanistan could drag the country into a civil war, paralleled by Iraq and Syria.
