In recent days, a newsletter was released by the defense ministry indicating that nearly 43 ISIL members, including foreign members of the group, were killed in an airstrike in the eastern province of Kunar. The air strike has taken place where the people of this place have completely migrated and this area was fully owned by the ISIL group. According to news sources, this area was being used to train members of the group where Several Pakistani and Uzbek citizens who were members of the ISIL group were also killed. Analysts say both the Taliban and ISIL group are active in eastern Afghanistan, especially in the provinces of Kunar and Nangarhar, which border Pakistan.
Elsewhere, in northern Baghlan province, a top ISIS leader who was in charge of terrorist activities in northern Afghanistan and Central Asia was killed in an operation of the Afghan Special Forces. The Ministry of Interior (MoI) in a statement added that the militant leader identified as Uzbek Mufti that was mainly involved in planning and organizing terrorist attacks in the northern parts of the country. According to MoI, Uzbek Mufiti was also in charge of equipping and financing the terror group of Central Asia. At least three other ISIS militants were also killed during the same operation and some weapons and other military kits were confiscated, the MoI added. The anti-government armed militants including ISIS sympathizers have not commented regarding the airstrike so far.
The Taliban militants have also suffered heavy casualties in clashes with the Afghan armed forces in southern Zabul province, according to local security authorities. As reported, the Afghan armed forces clashed with the Taliban militants in Shenkai, Arghandab, and Daichupan districts of Zabul province leaving at least 17 militants dead. The statement further added at least 20 Taliban militants also sustained injuries during the same clashes. The Afghan military has not disclosed further information regarding the possible casualties of the armed forces as a result of the clashes.
It seems that such action against terrorists remained the only possible option for the Afghan government and people. Because the terrorists neither have belief in peace and prosperity and nor they have lost their motives which originated from the political terrorist project. For example, some of the neighboring countries are still seeking to achieve its political goals through terrorism as initiated in the very first days of the establishment of the Taliban group. Also, those who chose this part of Asia as a center for the cultivation of terrorists are still behind the scenes of terrorism with the same motives. Those who have so far supported terrorism are not seemed to meet their goals yet and continue to insist on supporting this group. The presence of citizens from other countries in an ISIS training center in eastern Afghanistan suggests that there is still enough motivation to foster terrorists and strengthen terrorism in the region.
Unfortunately, with the acceleration of peace talks between the United States and the Taliban in Qatar, there is a kind of dispersion among the political factions within the system in the country. Some of the political elites and even those who fought against the Taliban have been implicitly and indirectly showed willingness towards Taliban and unwontedly transformed into hidden supporters of the Taliban. They even prepared to negotiate the Taliban over the constitution and achievements of the Afghan people and mentally accepted to return to the dark era of the Taliban. This fantasy was strengthened when the extreme tiredness of the Afghan people was linked to the war. There is no doubt that the war has destroyed the lives of people of Afghanistan, and every day witnessing the deaths of Afghan youths is hard and intolerable but this situation cannot justify to go back to the dark period of the Taliban and to resume another endless conflict in the country.
Despite the numerous victims and calamity in the past years, the people of Afghanistan feel that they have gained some achievements which are very hard to lose it freely. Many people ask if the Taliban were to come to dominate the country, then there was no need to fight and sacrifice. We had a system nearly two decades ago, which the Taliban still demand the same system. When talking about the constitution, the political system, civil liberties, human rights, and civil values, the Taliban reject everything unconditionally. Representatives of the Taliban at the Moscow conference have explicitly rejected all these values and emphasized the establishment of Islamic rule and the implementation of the Shari’a according to their own interpretation.
Now, when the cease-fire tabled as a prerequisite for peace talks, the Taliban reject it and emphasize on war and bloodshed. But on the other hand, the people of Afghanistan are never ready to lose their important achievements such as constitution, political system human rights and so on which has hardly attained in the past two decades. This public demand was clearly expressed by the Peace Consultative Jirga, where all the various groups of the Afghan people were present. The peace talks in recent days, the final resolution of the Peace Consultative Meeting, the successive defeats of terrorists on the battlefields and the potential danger of changing terrorism requires the Afghan government to be actively present in the peace process, and On the other hand, it should not overlook a moment of decisiveness against terrorism. This is the only possible way for Afghanistan.