News Analysis |
Afghan security forces carried out an operation in the eastern Nangarhar province which resulted in the death of 9 people and wounding 8, mostly civilians. The operation, as narrated by the governor of province Hayatullah Hayat, was initiated after the fire was opened from a house followed by a raid by Afghan police which resulted in the death of a police commander as well. Both Islamic State and Afghan Taliban have a high concentration in the eastern part of Afghanistan.
The incident adds to the tally of operations which have resulted in serious collateral damage. On April 02, 2018, Afghan Airforce carried out an air strike on a madrassa in Kunduz province where graduation ceremony of kids and teenagers was about to convene. It resulted in the death of more than 36 people, mostly children, which led to international lambasting over the military expenditure on Afghan National Army (ANA) and its below-par professionalism.
Read more: Intriguing media silence over air strike killing Madrassa children in Afghanistan
Kunduz incident itself was not first of its kind. In March 2018, seven farmers were killed, including two teenagers, when Afghan forces conducted a raid at two villages in Chaparhar district of Nangarhar province.
Washington has invested a trillion dollars and more than 2,300 American lives in Afghanistan. It’s one of the most expensive projects in the history of the United States. But rampant corruption, a lack of oversight and dwindling U.S. presence in Afghanistan are leading America and its cash down a dark path. One where Washington hands over billions of dollars to Kabul in hopes it will turn that money over to soldiers and police with no actual ability for Washington to track the cash.
It’s one of the most expensive projects in the history of the United States. But rampant corruption, a lack of oversight and dwindling U.S. presence in Afghanistan are leading America and its cash down a dark path.
On April 29, John Sopko, the special inspector general for Afghanistan reconstruction, testified before a Congressional subcommittee on national security. He was there to tell legislators all about Afghanistan’s security forces, a mix of police and soldiers funded by the American taxpayer.
“Every dollar we spend now on training, advising, and assisting the Afghans,” Sopko said, “must be viewed as insurance coverage to protect our nearly trillion dollar investment in Afghanistan since 2001.”
Read more: Taliban claims deadly car bomb attack in Kabul
The biggest hurdle in the training process of Afghan recruits, as cited by US instructors, is the illiteracy. Recruits are simply not even able to comprehend the no. of rounds they are asked to load or fire. Coordination, strategy, and planning are pushed to secondary importance with such primary constraints at hand. Also, there have been quite a no. of cases where the Taliban sympathizers inside Afghan forces open fire at their comrades and US soldiers and go AWOL with a large cache of government weaponry.
The homogeneity of the population with a mixture of different ideologies makes it very difficult to screen out candidates who are inclined toward activities which they are recruited to curb in first place. Still, education remains the cardinal factor if Afghan forces are to be made to stand in line, in terms of professionalism, with their neighboring security forces, if no one else.
Also, there have been quite a no. of cases where the Taliban sympathizers inside Afghan forces open fire at their comrades and US soldiers and go AWOL with a large cache of government weaponry.
These incidents are the reason which has perplexed the Afghan population about the credibility of their government, which in general understanding should be the guardian of their lives and liberties. Afghan Taliban and ISIS in Afghanistan have increased the frequency and intensity of their attacks in what has been a popular term of this long, toiling war “Spring Assault”. Due to the severe winters and tough terrain in Afghanistan, as soon as the winter arrives the fighting gets ceased considerably. But right after the snow starts to melt down, a new phase of belligerence by both sides generally and Afghan Taliban in particularly is initiated.
And after seeing war for so many years, peace is all what they truly want at the moment.
Unfortunately, the general Afghan population is the two-sided victim of this US waged war inside Afghanistan. They have nowhere to go. As far as the government is concerned, the process of democracy and its subsequent constituents itself are incapable and corrupt to run the system according to the aspirations of Afghan people. And after seeing war for so many years, peace is all what they truly want at the moment.