Trust belied

A pre-dawn massacre of ANA soldiers in Kunar raises questions of whether there can be reconciliation with the Taleban. However, all sources point to Pakistan’s ISI responsibility.

A pre-dawn massacre of ANA soldiers in Kunar raises questions of whether there can be reconciliation with the Taleban. However, all sources point to Pakistan’s ISI responsibility.
“My son served the government, now he is just a box (coffin) in front of me,” cries an anguished mother outside Sardar Mohammad Daud Khan Hospital in Kabul.
Her son, Amir Husain, was one of 21 Afghan National Army (ANA) soldiers who were killed in Ghaziabad district, Kunar, on Feb 22.
His wife Laila recalls her husband had phoned only hours before he was killed. He had been in the army for four years. “He told me ‘I will get leave in the new year and come home’,” she cries. She says he told her to take care of their 8-month-old daughter. “What am I to do with this daughter?” she asks.
The Kunar governor, Ministry of Defence (MoD), and president’s office have very different takes on the incident.
Governor Shujaul Mulk Jalala told the media the pre-dawn massacre was the result of the soldiers’ “nonchalance”. According to him, the National Security Department had observed the troops were soft on the Taleban.
The MoD said the pre-dawn attack was planned outside the country, but did not provide any details.
President Hamid Karzai’s office condemned both the killing and the abduction of eight other soldiers who went missing after the attack. The president postponed a visit to Sri Lanka, and called on Pakistan to decisively and honestly counter terrorism.
Minister of Defence General Bismillah Mohammedi accused the “criminal” Taleban of doing the bidding of their “external supporters”.
Social networks were rife with rumours that it was the handiwork of Pakistan in retaliation for the murder of 23 of its soldiers. Pictures of family members at a ceremony in the Daud Khan Hospital in Kabul went viral on Facebook.
The media and social networks valorized the dead soldiers for putting up a fight for six hours before they embraced “martyrdom”. On Feb 24, the national anthem was played while their bodies wrapped in the national flag were handed over to relatives at the hospital.
There is anger against Karzai for calling the Taleban “unsatisfied brothers”. How can there be reconciliation with opponents who unleash violence on fellow Afghans, people ask.