Rise of Taliban in the country’s north is not surprising. Many areas had gone into their control more than two years before, there were reports of heavy deployment, and increasing influence of Taliban in the region but the government and our security forces never took this threat seriously. Now, the situation seems to be turning like that of Iraq. We are not sure how much international community is concerned about the grave fact that country is once again going to fall into the hands of militants and non-democratic powers but it is a matter of grave concern for every Afghan. They just had a sigh of relief from decades of war, refuge and poverty and were hopeful of the future of country but once again, the country seems to be falling apart and slipping into the hands of militants.

For a common person or as shown on the media, it is a simple scenario. Taliban are getting help from local people, local people are joining them on the name of Jihad and day by day, more and more areas are falling under the control of Taliban but internally, there are so many dubious factors. In this situation, the role of government, international powers present in Afghanistan, top brass of military and intelligence, some parliamentarians or tribal chiefs and all other stakeholders is questionable.

In the same way, things are not as simple as they appear. History shows that people of this area never supported Taliban or any other group and they were always the supporters of government and democracy. In the same way, due to the negative exploitation of Jihad, majority of people in the area are allergic to this term and they would not only avoid joining any such movement on the name of Jihad but they would try to stop others. Therefore, it is a wrong concept that people are joining Taliban on the name of Jihad or supporting them physically or morally.

 Taliban could have done this many years before but in 2014 and furthermore in 2015, the conditions became favorable for them. According to local people, large numbers of people are joining Taliban due to unemployment. Until 2014, when international powers and thousands of NGOs and aid agencies were functional in the country, there was plenty for everyone. People got jobs, businesses prospered and economy grew but starting from the beginning of 2014, international NGOs, offices, and businesses slowly started wrapping up their operations in the country and by the end of 2014, less than 5% of them were left behind. Due to this, large number of people became jobless, money disappeared, international donations stopped flowing into the country and there was a general panic. This badly affected the rural areas where people did not have much to do and families were run by those who were working in big cities. Hopes were pinned with the new government but until now, it has not come up according to the expectations and the situation is getting worse with every passing day. The rate of unemployment is so high that highly qualified professionals are also looking for small jobs. Thousands of poor Afghans are leaving the country to Pakistan, Iran and Turkey in hope of earning some money. In such situations, they are left with no option except to accept the job of Taliban who are reported to be paying 300 to 400 dollars for those who join them. The salary increases with the rank and position.

Therefore, it comes out that, it is the failure of government to provide people with jobs that is providing the workforce or soldiers to Taliban.

Another surprising factor is the overwhelming and vast supply of weapons, money and other support to Taliban. Taliban are reported to have latest and heavy weaponry, they are well supplied with Afghan and American currency and they have such minds among them who make wonderful plans and strategies for their attacks and control. One wonders as where was our government or our intelligence agencies when they were piling up the weapons and Afghanis or dollars and why were they not stopped in the beginning. I have personally great admiration to our national intelligence agency called NDS but in this case, their role is also dubious. Either their hands are tied or they are also the part of this great game being played on our soil.

It is also a general habit that when we find no other excuse for our negligence or failure, we blame Pakistan but according to political and military analysts, it is very difficult to blame Pakistani government or its agencies in this case as our northern areas are absolutely distant and cut off from any Pakistani border. In the same way, there is not present any excuse on the presence of large number of Jihadi militants who have crossed border from a number of Central Asian countries to come and fight their damn holy war on our land.

The silence of American forces and their government is also strange in this case. No doubt, they have ceased military operations in the country by handing over the responsibility and authority to Afghan forces but how can they sit on a side and watch Taliban, controlling the areas one after the other.

There are so many other suspicious things happening in our politics but it is meaningless to mention all of them here. They do know that their furtive and secrets acts are no more secret and they cannot befool everyone inside and outside the country.

But unfortunately, these events are inflicting irreversible and incurable harms on our forces. At many occasions, the local police was left on the mercy of militants and after a number of hours as well, they were not helped by our security forces. Now, they believe that they are being terminated with a proper planning and strategy and in this game, both Taliban and top brass military have joined hands together. Similarly, our security forces and especially National Army have been made a scapegoat. At a number of occasions, the army was let down not by militants but by the suspicious orders of their commanders. Such widespread perception can be harmful for the overall loyalty of our forces in the long run. In the same way, these dubious events have brought sharp decline in the morale of our police and army who are not afraid of militants but of the government and their commanders who are playing their strange roles.

First Vice-President, General Dostum also raised similar doubts about the role of government and top military brass and thus declaring not to be a part of this secret game, he decided to stay there and make sure that the region is cleaned of Taliban. Being part of the government, the role and conduct of Mr. Dostum is strange but at the same time, it shows his sincerity with the country and the forces.

Military operations are underway and today or tomorrow, Taliban may be removed and the areas brought under the control of government but this secret game is going to leave its permanent traces that will keep tormenting the local people. People lost their loved ones, the roads, bridges, schools, hospitals and all other civic facilities are being targeted and destroyed by Taliban, which will make their lives difficult in future. People of Afghanistan have only request to international powers and that is to stop using Afghan soil for playing their dirty game of power and intimidation.