Mohammad Jamil
Afghanistan is in the throes of a multidimensional civil war, and with the rift between the partners of Unity Government and intensified Taliban attacks, the country is adrift to more uncertainties, chaos and anarchy. Afghan National Unity Government has failed on many counts; instead of putting its own house in order, it continues to blame Pakistan for its failures. In December 2016, President Ashraf Ghani had opened the conference by refusing a $500 million pledge from Pakistan for development projects in Afghanistan, which was done to appease Indian prime minister. He went on to say: “Afghanistan suffered the highest number of casualties last year. This is unacceptable… Some still provide sanctuary for terrorists. As a Taliban figure said recently, if they had no sanctuary in Pakistan, they wouldn’t last a month.” In fact, Pakistan is itself the worst victim of terrorism, and suffered enormously in men and treasure.
Instead of acknowledging its failures in reining in the Taliban, it continues with the blame game, which will not help control the situation. There is record increase in the violence in Afghanistan and the Taliban have expanded their influence by gaining control in the territory held by the Taliban. The Taliban, according to its new strategy vowed to protect the development projects benefiting Afghans as well as the regional countries. Analysts termed the statement as power projection and a positive change in the stance of the Taliban who wished to showcase their patriotism. On the political front, the turmoil continues. Parliament had impeached seven ministers last year including the Foreign Minister, which exacerbated the differences between the president and CEO. Besides earlier division between Ashraf Ghani and Abdullah Abdullah, the turf war has started between President Ghani and the first Vice President Abdul Rashid Dostum.
Afghan leaders are under stress in view of the election victory of Trump and fear a change in policy towards Afghanistan. To add to their woes, they are washing their laundry in public by accusing each other of ethnicity and nepotism. First Vice President Abdul Rashid Dostum is under criticism for abducting and sexually harassing former Jowzjan governor Ahmad Eshchi. Presidential Palace had announced that the NUG would investigate claims of assault by First Vice President and his men. In an August 11, 2016 speech in Kabul, Chief Executive Abdullah Abdullah had criticized President Ashraf Ghani for taking unilateral decisions on various issues including the appointment of ministers. He accused President Ashraf Ghani of not implementing the power-sharing arrangement, his failure to hold a Loya Jirga and amending the constitution to create the position of prime minister.
The deadline for implementation of political agreement brokered by Secretary Kerry that formed the current coalition government was September 21, 2016; but nothing has so far been done in this regard. President Ashraf Ghani perhaps feels that with the amendment of the Constitution, he will become only figure head of the government. According to reports, the Taliban control 36 of Afghanistan’s 407 districts. Islamic State has also increased its attacks. At this point in time, when the Taliban groups are uniting, and ISIS is gaining foothold in Afghanistan, the conflict between the Unity Government partners is fraught with dangers. Several Taliban leaders that had parted ways with the Taliban following the appointment of Mullah Akhtar Mansoor as emir have rejoined the Taliban.
The reality is that the Taliban control large swathes of land in Afghanistan, and according to Pajhwok News the Taliban are collecting land rents from the growers in some areas including Batikot district of eastern Nangarhar province. It means that Unity Government has not been able to establish the writ of the state. Afghan government cannot succeed if it continues to pamper India and blame Pakistan for providing sanctuaries to Haqqani group militants. Of course, a number of Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) militants have joined the ranks and files of Daesh in Afghanistan. And Afghan government has not taken measures to decimate them. After the launch of the Zarb-e-Azb, militants from Pakistan had fled to Afghanistan, and Pakistan claims that they were provided sanctuaries. Even special cards for movement without any check were issued to them. Reportedly medical facilities and ration, etc., were also provided to them.
The Taliban leaders are emboldened because of the rift in the Unity Government, and reputation of the government functionaries who are accused of corruption and nepotism. The European delegation visited Kabul on Monday and launched its 2017 anti-corruption campaign which would run for several weeks. The anti-corruption drive is aimed to underscore the important role of awareness raising, prevention and government-citizens partnership as a cross cutting pillar of fight against corruption, with a view to diminish corrupt practices. Afghan government, threatened by the Taliban’s upsurge has appreciated the efforts of Quadrilateral Coordination Group. Ashraf Haidari, director general policy and strategy at the Afghan Ministry of Defence, thanked the Russian Federation for hosting the Quadrilateral Coordination Group (QGC) meeting. He welcomed genuine efforts to help end war and praised Russia, China, Iran, India, Turkey and all Central Asian states for their continued support for joint peace efforts.
Without naming Pakistan, he said: “The existence of terrorists’ sanctuaries and policy of differentiating between good and bad terrorists hampered regional efforts in the form of Quadrilateral Coordination Group meetings.” Instead of acknowledging Afghan government’s failure to rein in the Taliban, it continues with the blame game, which will not help control the situation. Last month, US Commander General Nicholson had told the Senate Armed Services Committee that Russia and Iran were aiding the Taliban. He accused Russia and Iran of trying to scuttle its mission in the war-devastated country. He alleged Iran was directly involved in providing support to the militants. In this backdrop, and also due to the efforts of the Afghanistan National Directorate Security personnel to sabotage the peace talks, the peace would remain elusive.
