The revelations of the governor of Paktika may be somehow shocking but they are not new of their kind. Almost a week ago, the said governor accused the National Security Advisor of providing money to the families of ISIS militants in the province. There has not been any public announcement in this regard by the said government office until the publication of these words. The parliament has also summoned both the governor of Paktika and the concerned officer of National Security to the floor of the house to clarify their position. Further investigation of the house would bring into the light the real situation but we cannot expect much from the house as similar hearings in past were mostly fruitless. The biggest problem is of the house itself, the members of which are continually accused of corruption and other illegal practices.
A member of the house and representative of Paktika province presented another side of the picture. According to him, the said governor has mistaken the refugees of North and South Waziristan of Pakistan for the militants of ISIS. After the Pakistani military launched a military operation in the tribal areas of Pakistan, large numbers of families from the Waziristan region of Pakistan crossed the border into Afghanistan. As a symbol of Afghan hospitality and cultural traditions, these refugees were not only given a safe place to live until peace is restored in their own places but government also provided each family with a minimum of five thousand Pakistani rupees so that they should be able to meet their expenses. The said military operation is still in progress in Pakistan and the displaced Pakistani families are still living on the Afghan soil. According to the parliamentarian, the governor might have taken the displaced families of Waziristan as belonging to ISIS and thus made this media statement. However, we may or may not be able to get the exact details of these accusations.
In past as well, there has been many similar accusations when the Afghan security forces, important officials of the government, international security forces, tribal elders or chiefs, the mafia groups, spying agencies and many others were accused of being involved in helping the militants and establishing their networks for their own objectives.
Taliban are also accused of being helped by the foreign forces in form of arms and ammunitions. In the same way, the details of military operations, that were kept secret and only a few top officers knew about the exact details of the operation, were already known to the Taliban and they had already left the area before the arrival of Afghan forces. It is the reason why, a large number of officers and soldiers left the force when they discovered that they were in fact fighting an insider and not an actual enemy and figuratively, their hands were tied together. The same reason is given for the large numbers of incidents when a member of Afghan forces opened fire on the foreign forces. Large number of foreign forces were killed or injured in these ‘Green on Blue’ attacks. A common Afghan also suspects foreign forces for their failure in curbing out the militancy, although having all the sophisticated technology and latest weapons.
In Kabul and other major cities of the country, a number of terrorist attacks were carried out by terrorists in the most secure and heavily guarded places where access of a terrorist is out of question. The attack on the office of the City Police Chief was an example when the terrorist was able to reach to a place that is not easily accessible even to the low-ranked officers of police. As was shown by the CC TV footages, the terrorist reached inside in a high-protocol vehicle that belonged to one of the senior officers of police force. Similarly, the ability of terrorist to strike at the most secure places of the city, after crossing all the police checkpoints, is also suspicious and gives birth to many questions. The attack on Kabul Serena Hotel was also an example when terrorists were given a help in carrying their weapons through the tight security of the hotel. The inability of police to identify and stop the terrorists at large numbers of security checkpoints inside the city shows their inability but people also suspect them as having an invisible hand with the militants.
On the other hand, police and our spying agency blames important government officials like ministers, parliamentarians and others as having hands in carrying the terrorists and their weapons to different points of the city. A number of terrorists were caught from the houses of important government officials but the case was soon buried before it reached to the media. The important officials are also accused of providing the terrorists with the exact maps and locations of different targets inside the city as in some cases, terrorists seem to be having more detailed information comparing to the concerned officers.
Outside the cities, there are large numbers of Taliban groups, working for their own masters and sponsors.
The above suspicions are supported by the fact that Taliban pay monthly salaries for their members, provide them with latest motorcycles and vehicles, have good supply of arms and ammunitions and have access to best medical facilities in one of our neighboring countries. In the presence of these facts, it no more remains a secret that there are certain hands behind these Taliban.
The new form of threat for the security of our country has emerged in the form of ISIS. As security experts have repeatedly said this that without any internal support, the existence and operations of ISIS is next to impossible in Afghanistan. If we want to finish this menace from our country, we need to cut those hands that are supporting them and making them flourish. This seems to be the only rational and permanent solution of this problem.