A wave of bomb attacks, which have killed scores of people across the country, has confounded the national unity government while people are wondering who are the invisible hands behind the terrible uncertainty.
“There is no concealing that even the president’s office and top officials do not know who are behind the violence: are they out of the country and are the strong hands that of neighbouring countries as well as countries far away?” asks a political watcher who did not want to be identified.
Even President Ashraf Ghani and his chief executive Dr Abdullah Abdullah cannot predict what would happen tomorrow, he adds.
The ambiguity is fanning fear in people. Afifa, a mother of four, worries about her children’s future. “Were the situation to become worse and the bloodshed and fighting increase, what would be the future of my four children? Would they get a chance to live in peace in this country?” she wonders.
She recalls the bloody events of the last few days including last Friday, Aug 7, which is being described as the most dangerous day ever in the recent past. Early morning, a truck bomb exploded killing more than 15 and injuring at least 300. It was targeting an Afghan army compound that is close to residential areas and a market area in Kabul’s Shah Shaheed neighbourhood. No one claimed responsibility.
Hours later, a suicide bomber blew himself up among students at the Afghan Police Academy in the capital. At least 15 people were killed. And in a third incident on Friday, militants attacked a US Special Operations base at 10.15pm, triggering a firefight that went on for hours. One US soldier was killed. The base known as Camp Integrity is a fortified compound close to Kabul airport.
Afifa weeps for all the mothers who lost children on Aug 7.
Talks suspended
Violence has spiraled since the announcement of the death of Mullah Omar and the selection of his deputy as his successor, which has been opposed by factions within Taleban ranks. Also, nascent talks between the government and Taleban, which were likely to kickstart the peace process, have been put on hold.
Amin Nazeri, a member of the civil society organisation called Tawana (powerful) believes the talks were deliberately sabotaged. He claims a pattern in the chain of events. “Whenever the peace talks are showing seriousness, our security forces are beguiled into lowering security arrangements and armed opponents use the opportunity to carry out explosions or launch suicide attacks in order to show their power. Then the government kowtows and requests Pakistan or others to arrange another round of meetings for peace talks,” he says. Here Nazeri is referring to the phone conversation between Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif and President Ghani, which took place on Aug 10, three days after the explosion in Shah Shaheed, when Ghani requested the Pakistani leader to assist in bringing peace in Afghanistan.
The Pakistani media were quoted saying the phone conversation took 10 minutes in which the recent incidents in Afghanistan as well as the peace talks between Taleban and the Afghan government were discussed. Sharif conveyed his condolences to the kin of those who were killed in the deadly explosions in Kabul. Both he and the Afghan president have been pushing for talks to continue. Janan Musazai, the Afghan ambassador in Islamabad, visited Mawlana Sami ul Haq (a religious and political leader in Pakistan), expected to assist in bringing peace in Afghanistan.
Meanwhile, some experts think it is a “mistake” to try to make peace with those who think nothing of perpetrating violence and shedding blood.
Shukria Barakzai, Member of Parliament (MP) from Kabul believes, “A policy of negotiating peace with armed opponents and seeking help from Pakistan is a mistake that has been frequently repeated. The Afghan government should not once again undertake this fruitless journey and render itself untrusted in public opinion.”
Azerakhsh Hafez, an international consultant in the Chamber of Commerce & Industries, believes peace efforts must be only with representatives authorised by the Taleban since they are being managed by the ISI. “Some Taleban are hostage to Pakistanis and can bring Taleban to the negotiating table,” he insists.
Jihadist leader Abdul Rab Rasoul Sayaf, ex-MP who stepped down to run in the 2014 presidential elections, also echoed the opinion and added that some of the armed opponents are in control of Pakistan. He even called Mullah Omar a servant of Pakistan who was killed under pressure of Pakistan.
Esmail Qasemyar, the international relations advisor for the High Peace Council, thinks Afghanistan is being fought over, a fight that started on Sep 11. The role of Pakistan is for training and sending forth fighters to wage “terrorism”.
Words to action
President Ghani said on Aug 10 after a car bomb killed five people in Kabul that training centres for suicide attacks as well as bomb-making factories that kill innocent people in Afghanistan are active in Pakistan. He appealed to the Afghan nation and the Pakistan government simultaneously. “I am asking the nation and the government of Pakistan if a group perpetrated such a massacre in Islamabad as it did in Shah Shaheed of Kabul, and should the group have had offices and training centres in our big cities of Afghanistan, what would be your reaction? Would you consider us an enemy or friend?”
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