End the war, quickly

There is growing impatience over the government’s failure to halt the dangerously sliding security situation.

Mohammad Zaher Qadir, the first deputy speaker who is a former general in Afghanistan’s Border Guard has warned that if the threat

There is growing impatience over the government’s failure to halt the dangerously sliding security situation.

Mohammad Zaher Qadir, the first deputy speaker who is a former general in Afghanistan’s Border Guard has warned that if the threat from the Taleban and Daesh, fighters aligned to the Islamic State (ISIS) was not urgently dealt with, particularly in Nangarhar, he would “take action” along with local people. Qadir represents Nangarhar in Parliament. He gave the government time till two weeks after the festival of Eid Al Adha.

Earlier voices were raised in protest by lawmakers and the Chamber of Commerce & Industries. Abdul Rahman Rahmani, lawmaker from Balkh, says Afghan security forces are fighting the Taleban in 136 districts. He insists some government authorities are hand-in-hand with Taleban but he did not name anyone. “We should take this seriously. Who brings the ISIS? We have documents that show who are in contact. Governors, ministers, commanders of military bases have contact with ISIS but they don’t accept,” he says.

Rahmani says people are “fleeing” the fighting. “Traders are fleeing, youths are also fleeing. Security is the mother for all things, it creates everything and if there is no mother, there is no work,” he adds.

Representatives of provinces neighbouring Kabul also say armed opponents of the government are gaining influence in the villages. Zakia Sangeen, member of parliament (MP) from Parwan says some parts of the province are far from safe, and the government should take the situation seriously. She warns insecurity in Parwan would compromise security in Kabul City. “The enemy has paid much attention to Parwan … even killing people,” she says.

The Taleban has a presence in the province’s Siagerd and Shinwari districts and conduct armed attacks regularly. They can threaten and block the highway from Kabul to the northern provinces. MPs from Ghazni and Badghis province also say the Taleban block highways and the government has been unable to reopen them.

In April, Paktika’s previous governor Abdul Karim Mateen had alleged that some 200,000 USD from the National Security Council (NSC) for displaced families had ended up in the pockets of Daesh militants. Moreover, he said the NAC has ignored his concerns about Daesh presence in the province. Mateen was sacked by the NSC for making “false statements”.

Last week, the Ministry of Defence said the Taleban were active in 21 provinces and security forces were involved in clearing them out. On Sep 11, some 145 armed opponents were killed in fighting together with 12 Afghan soldiers. The Afghan National Army is hampered by a shortage of equipment.

Military expert Atiqullah Baryalai has great faith in the resilience of the army but fears political leadership may let it down. “The Afghan army could lose its national and international support, he fears.

A report by SIGAR (Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction) states the US has allocated some 65 billion USD for Afghan security forces.

Unending war

While the spread of the war is becoming larger day by day and its fallout such as poverty, displacement and migration are increasing, it is hard to predict the destiny of Afghanistan. Nurullah Walizada, analyst and journalist believes, “The worsening security situation is not a coincidence as some analysts and journalists believe. It is a planned initiative of Taleban – to transfer the geography of war from the south of Afghanistan and north of Pakistan to north of Afghanistan and south of countries in Central Asia. It is a confrontation between super powers (US, Russia and China), and Afghanistan is caught in the middle,” he says.