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

Unhappy Brothers See Osama Death “Blowing New Spirit”

It is not surprising and unexpected to see a surge in Taliban terrorist attacks as the spring buds have come to full, which have typically betokened the increase in violence and thus deaths of Afghans over the last few years. It is not unexpected either to see the militants get emboldened and more brazen as the president of the country or head of the state continue to call them the "disgruntled brothers." It is now the common belief that Taliban are not strong; it is the government that is weak.

On Saturday, May 07, 2011, the militants attacked the governor's office of southern province of Kandahar. According to reports, at least two explosions rocked the city and the gunmen holed up in a five-storey shopping mall traded fire with security forces at the provincial governor's compound. In the meanwhile, the Taliban militants have issued a statement acknowledging the death of Osama Bin Laden, the leader of Al-Qaeda who was killed by American forces last week in Pakistan.

While president Karzai continues to call the Taliban militants as the "unhappy brothers", they have said that the death of Bin Laden "will blow a new spirit into the jihad against the occupiers." It shows that Taliban have not broken with Al-Qaeda and that the two continue to share one ideology. Many believe that President Hamid Karzai should stop calling the extremist militants brothers and instead order international and Afghan forces to squeeze them to disrupt their momentum and ability who kill Afghan men and women and destroy the country.

This is because they believe that Taliban will not embrace Afghan constitution, denounce violence and sever ties with Al-Qaeda, the global terrorist network, if they do not feel that they are defeated. These are the preconditions set to reconcile with the Taliban because observance of these conditions will guarantee a pluralistic, open and peaceful prosperous Afghanistan. So in order to instill a feeling of defeat into these militants, the government and international community must take a tougher approach and increase military pressure on them. In a large gathering of protestors, former intelligence Chief Amrullah Saleh, referring to Taliban, said, "We have not forgotten the burning of our homeland and the humiliation of the men and women of Afghanistan. But you (Karzai) are still calling these people 'brother."