The Bonn II Conference on Afghanistan ended with promises and commitments. However, the concerns regarding the security situation in the country still remain very much real. As a matter of fact, there have not been concrete measures chalked out in the conference that should prove really fruitful in bringing peace and tranquility in the country. The reconciliation process is still out of shape and the capability of Afghan authorities and troops remain very much doubtful. On the other hand the international troops seem in a hurry to leave the country.

There are reports that a proposal is being considered for withdrawing about 4,000 British troops from Afghanistan before the end of 2013. The set proposal will be presented to British Prime Minister David Cameron for consideration in a meeting of the National Security Council, next week. The proposal suggests that the number of UK troops should be reduced from 9,000 to 5,000 from Helmand province in 2013 and the same number would be reduced in the following year.

Though it is yet a proposal and an option that has not been approved, it clearly points at the fact that the international community can not afford to continue supporting Afghanistan for a long time at least militarily. In the Bonn Conference the international community has promised to support Afghanistan till 2024 but this support is more in other areas rather than security, which at the moment seems one of the most crucial issues in Afghanistan

. If the security situation improves it is quite possible that the country can stand on its own in other areas as well. The political and economic stability largely depends on peace and tranquility. It is difficult to expect reliable political and economic development if there is constant insecurity.

At the same time it must be accepted as an evident fact that the international community can not keep on helping Afghanistan for an indefinite period of time and the Afghan authorities and people must shoulder the responsibility of the country themselves.

However, at the moment Afghanistan needs the support and cooperation of the international community to a large extent. Before the country is able to stand on its own, care should be taken that it is provided a proper platform to do so. International troops can withdraw from the country and must do it at some period of time but the contemporary scenario is very much delicate. The terrorism seems to be rising in the country and it has now started to target even the common people.

The incident of Ashura in Kabul in this regard is one of the most recent examples. The incident clearly points at the intention of terrorists and their capability to target people at their will. It is also an attempt to generate a sort of ethno-sectarian clash among the people and may lead the country towards a civil war if proper care is not devoted towards such dirty intentions.

It has been ten years since US troops and other international troops entered Afghanistan and now they are preparing to leave. At this important juncture, it is necessary that the outcomes of the war must be gauged properly and it should be answered properly whether the objectives of the war has been achieved.

One of the most important objectives of the war, for which billion of dollars have been spent and thousand of lives have been sacrificed, was to eradicate terrorism completely from Afghanistan and to support the same through a relative political and economic stability and that has not been achieved yet. Therefore, it is necessary that international community must not decide the future of the country in a hurry and must make sure that all the steps regarding withdrawal of international troops are taken with complete care.