Taliban insurgents have increased & continued their unabetted assaults on Afghan Government forces across the country since the US announcement to withdraw forces from Afghanistan by 11 September 2021. Despite calls for peace from around the world, the group seems to have little or no response for such calls, and pushes to try to grab power by military means. In the meantime, Afghan Government stands to counter the insurgents’ designs to capture political power by sheer force, and it has the backing of its allies including the US and NATO organization in term of military and financial assistance after the withdrawal of forces from the country.
There are reports that ‘the United States will use airpower to hit Taliban insurgents’ positions from bases in the Indian ocean and neighboring countries’ in support of Afghan Government forces ‘in cases of need’. This situation exhibits a protracted military campaign is in the horizon that will last for years between Afghan Government and Taliban insurgents despite the US / NATO forces withdrawal from Afghanistan and the efforts unleashed to bring lasting peace in the country.
Taliban insurgents are touting a harsh, one-man led, stringent political systems that is based on Islamic Sharia law, and they are not ready to budge or show concessions to accommodate the existing constitution of Afghanistan in any future political system as the group believes they can ‘run over the entire country’ by means of military campaign. On the other hand, Afghan Government stands strong to defend the progress made during last two decades in areas of freedom of expression, protection of the rights of women, education and political freedom whereby elections are means of change of power – not military campaign. From the look of it, there seems to be a irreconcilable, yawning gulf between the two sides, which obviously makes it hard to reach a meaningful peace deal any soon. For real peace to realize, it is important that negotiating parties make room to accommodate opposing parties’ demands to reach a blend of a political system that could accommodate all stakeholders in it. In the event such flexibilities are not exhibited, then the only way to push through is use of pressure by means of military force, economic sanctions and diplomatic arms-twisting.
It is unfortunate to see Taliban insurgents continue to defy calls for peace, meaningful negotiation and reductions in hostilities and tries to see if they can reach victory by military means, as the ongoing violence continues to take immense toll on the lives of Afghan citizens, economy and wellbeing of the people.
By now, it is very clear that international community decided to stand beside the people and the Government of Afghanistan for years to come, and citizens of Afghanistan ‘will not allow a political system that enslaves them and curtails their freedom under various pretexts’. The efforts to tame ongoing insurgency will continue for years to come, and Afghan Government needs to embark on the immense work to hone its defense and security organizations’ skills to country guerrilla-type military campaign unleashed by Taliban insurgents across the country, that take immense toll on security forces personnel, time and equipment.
As funding for the Afghan defense and security agencies are liquidated, programs to recruit and train more military personnel into the ranks of existing soldiers are of paramount importance. In addition, there should be a lot of data on the method, modus operandi and techniques used by Taliban insurgents to inflict losses on Afghan defense and security personnel.
Trainings should be designed to counter the insurgents on these areas. Also, air power is the defining force in the types of battles fought in Afghanistan, therefore, Afghan defense and security organizations should buttress this area and purchase more combat aircrafts and train more personnel to support security forces on the ground in difficult terrains. Afghanistan provides perfect geography for guerrilla-type battles because of its treacherous, mountainous form across the country, and the mastermind sitting in the neighboring country designing battle maps and techniques are very well equipped with enormous data during the country’s struggle against the ex-USSR invasion of Afghanistan in the decade of 1980s. Insurgency in Afghanistan has strong roots outside the country, and due to lack of education and ethnic division among the youths of the country, Afghanistan provides good breeding ground for recruiting personnel into the ranks of insurgents.
It is of paramount importance that Taliban should give greater consideration to the wishes of the people Afghanistan and to show that they are indigenous, nationalist and patriotic future political force, which the people and international community can trust. This is possible only when they stop violence, show serious readiness to negotiate peace and future political system with the Government of Afghanistan under the auspices of international community and the United Nations Security Council.