As we have moved into the year 2013, the security condition has started deteriorating in Afghanistan. Targeted killings, suicide attacks, roadside bomb blasts and coordinated raids on government entities continue like never before. Meanwhile, the indifference of authorities towards the situation continues though they have to concentrate on ways to bring Afghanistan out of such a disappointing situation. On the other hand, President Karzai who until last month called Taliban as angry brothers and invited them to negotiation table has suddenly started terming them as servants of the US.  

Since January, Kabul the capital city of Afghanistan has witnessed a number of deadly attacks on main government buildings including National Directorate of Security (NDS), Traffic Police Headquarter and Ministry of Defense (MoD). These attacks have resulted in death and injury of dozens of innocent Afghan civilians. And on Wednesday, the NDS foiled the biggest-ever terror plot. It discovered and defused a truck bomb packed with nearly eight tones of explosives in Kabul. "This truck bomb could have destroyed everything in 1.5 km area around it. Now can you imagine that what kind of catastrophe this would be?" NDS spokesmen Shafiqullah Taheri said in a press conference on Friday in Kabul.

The condition is not different in other provinces of Afghanistan. Terrorists, who can reach Kabul by successfully crossing certain security posts, can easily launch attacks elsewhere in Afghanistan. A suicide bomber detonated his explosive-packed jacket in Imam Saheb district of Kunduz province last week which resulted in deaths of six people including father and brother of Abdul Rauf Ebrahimi, Speaker of Afghanistan Parliament.

From the current scenario, one can easily ascertain the destination towards which Afghanistan is moving. The next presidential election is due in April next year and by the end of the same year, all US-led NATO troops are set to withdraw from the country. So, Afghanistan is really standing at a very sensitive point of time where if no proper plans are taken by Afghan government and the international community, this country might once again fall into the hand of insurgents. Even if that does not happen, security condition will deteriorate up to an extent that controlling it would not be in the capacity of Afghan government.