Editor in Chief: Moh. Reza Huwaida Friday, March 29th, 2024

Storming Government Buildings Gaining Currency

Violence continues to rankle Afghan people across the country. Taliban's announced spring offensive seems to be carried out unchecked and the militants are targeting those whom they had set as their targets. In Zabul province, the militants had kidnapped about nine tribal elders, influential people and educators of schools and they have killed three of the abductees, including head of a district council. Usually, the Taliban insurgents target the tribal leaders that support the government and champion peace talks. Over the last few weeks, the militants have also been able to storm highly protected government buildings in capital Kabul, Kandahar province and some other provinces of the country.

Roadside bombings and suicide attacks were common but the Taliban militants have added the organized storming of government buildings to their tactics to terrify and spread fear among people.

On Early Sunday, May 22, 2011, gunmen wearing police uniforms and suicide vests stormed a government building in eastern province of Khost, starting a running shootout with Afghan security forces that surrounded the compound. Reports were indicative that at least five people were killed in the fighting. The assault came a day after a Taliban suicide bomber infiltrated the capital's main military hospital and killed at least six Afghan medical students.

The government has lost its mobilizing power and these deadly incidents, which are caused by the Taliban and other insurgent outfits on a daily basis, will have psychological impact on Afghan people. Taliban have claimed responsibility for the Sunday's attack, in which the fighting lasted for hours.

Ten years after the Taliban were ousted from power in a US led international intervention, they have managed to step up attacks as part of their spring offensive against NATO, Afghan government installations and officials as foreign forces are slated to begin drawdown in July of this year. Their increased terrorist activities should be taken seriously and effective measures should be taken to address them.

Otherwise, the terrorists would seep into large swathes of the country before even the international forces begin to leave. Insurgents also have promised revenge attacks after the killing of Al-Qaida leader Osama bin Laden by U.S. forces in Pakistan earlier this month.

Afghan government must review its reconciliation plan because these terrorists do not abandon violence and continue to take innocent Afghan lives who even do not know when Osama was killed and it shows that the Taliban are the terrorists and enemies of Afghan people and must be tackled with iron fist.