Night raids have been a matter of dispute between President Hamid Karzai and NATO officials since long. NATO believes its night search and target operations have been quite pivotal in reaching figures linked to insurgents groups. According to NATO, these kinds of operations have been the safest with very little chance of civilian casualties. Nonetheless, Karzai calls night raids by NATO as stepping over the honor of Afghans and a mistake. He does not miss any opportunity to talk against the night operations, although according to Afghan and NATO authorities, such operations are led by Afghan Special Forces.
On his recent trip to Pakistan, Hamid Karzai, once again, pointed fingers at NATO forces saying their mistakes are the reason behind the growing strength of Taliban. Addressing an audience at the National Defense University in Islamabad late on Friday, Karzai thanked NATO for training and equipping Afghan forces. But he said the Taliban had been strengthened due to the mistakes of international troops."Civilian casualties and nighttime raids are the mistakes which make the Afghans unhappy and increases distrust," the Afghan leader said.
No doubt, Afghans are strictly bonded to their customs and traditions. And if anyone surpasses their fundamental principles, it will result in Afghans anger and displeasure. Keeping in view the same fact, Afghans army has been given more roles in crucial operations such as night raids. So, perceiving NATO night raids as sole reason for growing strength of Taliban would be quite unrealistic.
It is always easy to point fingers at others and difficult to see one's own mistakes. The present government is one of the most corrupt governments of the world. Over the last ten years, it has not been able to extent its writ beyond the capital Kabul. In many parts of Afghanistan, people refer to Taliban for solution of their problems.
Meanwhile, Afghan drugs, which the government has failed to counter, is the main source for Taliban to fund their operations. There are dozens of critical mistakes the government has made in the past. One of them is calling the Taliban – who kill thousands of innocent Afghans every year - as his 'brothers.' If the international community is responsible for the growing power of Taliban, the government is also equally responsible. Then why to point at others mistakes only?