Editor in Chief: Moh. Reza Huwaida Thursday, March 28th, 2024

Increase in Violence in 1394

The poor civilians in Afghanistan have not been able to experience peace and tranquility though they have waited for it for a long time and given a lot of sacrifices as well. Decades of instability have disturbed their lives to a large extent and their future is not guaranteed as there is continuous rise in insecurity. Soon after the downfall of Taliban there were hopes that the situation in Afghanistan would improve and the people would ultimately step in a democratic and peaceful country, but the hopes remained only hopes and currently the situation seems to be getting out of control.
According to a latest report by Afghanistan's Independent Human Rights Commission (AIHRC), civilian casualties in Afghanistan increased by 17 percent in 1394. Based on the report, last year the violence scale in Afghanistan was unprecedented and more than 3,000 civilians were killed. Fifty percent of those civilians killed in suicide attacks and roadside bombings. Among those killed or wounded 4,642 were men while 775 were women and 1,116 were children. These figures clearly show how the poor civilians are targeted mercilessly in the country. They had to be given their basic rights and facilities; however, they are being denied not only those but their right to life is also being denied.
It is worthwhile to note that the insurgents are mostly responsible for the casualties though they claim that they do not target the civilians. According to AIHRC, armed opponents were responsible for 72 percent of the casualties while nine percent was at the hands of government forces. This means that the claim of Taliban insurgents that they do not target the civilians is a false one. They have been indiscriminate in their attacks and in certain cases they have even targeted the civilians intentionally so as to spread terror among the people. Though they claim to be the defender of Islam but they are not familiar with its true teachings. Islam prohibits to take the life of innocent people and it says that if a person kills a single person guiltlessly, he, in a sense, kills the entire humanity. However, Taliban insurgents seem to neglect this important teaching.
It is imperative to understand that it is not only the death toll. Besides the death toll, the ongoing conflict has also forced thousands of Afghans to evacuate their homes. More than 149,000 Afghans fled their homes in the first six months of the year due to ongoing conflict in Afghanistan, the United Nations said in its latest figures on the conflict. The UN's Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs said in a bulletin released in Kabul on Thursday that many of those affected were farmers who were missing critical sowing and harvest times.
In Afghanistan, people have not only suffered the hardships of the poor and miserable lives but also the horrors of war. They have been killed mercilessly as if their lives do not have any value or meaning and it is important to see that the Taliban are mostly behind the demise of the poor civilians. It should also be added that the poor civilians have also been influenced by insecurity in different other ways. The weaker strata, in particular, have been facing different faces of terror.
Different attacks, bombings, shootings and suicide bombings of the vicious guardians of the so-called holy war have only been able to target the children, women and non-military figures. With the presence of such facts, it is weird to find Taliban calling themselves friendly to Afghan people. Civilian killings, therefore, clearly depict that Taliban do not care much about the civilian casualties; what they mostly care about is their threat and dominancy over the security arrangements.
Taliban, recently, have been trying to develop an image of caring and affectionate body that is trying to liberate the people of Afghanistan from the Western forces. But the fact is just on the contrary. They just want power and for that they will never hesitate to sacrifice the poor Afghan people. They will definitely, like cowards, target the weaker strata as they do not have proper security to guard themselves and are easy targets. If Taliban come to power, it is evident that Afghan people will never have peace, contentment and above all their due rights.
With the current rise and swelling wave of terrorism, it should not be neglected that Taliban have been able to grow largely in the recent few years. The transition period, instead of pointing towards progress and improvement, seems to be going the other way. In fact the overall process of transition does not seem to be working well. This period should not only be considered complete after the transfer of security responsibility from international forces to Afghan forces, rather it should be comprehensive enough to include within its folds the overall political and economic stability and better life opportunities for all the Afghan people.

The post transition period in Afghanistan should guarantee a secure life for all the people. Moreover, it has to be a period that can give poverty stricken Afghan people their basic requirements; provide them better representation and participation in political and social life; make them capable of governing themselves appropriately.