(VOVWORLD) - The Afghan capital of Kabul has over the past few days been repeatedly shocked by attacks which have claimed many lives. They were the bloodiest attacks every since the US and NATO suspended their military involvement in Afghanistan in 2014.
 Photo: AFP/TTXVN |
On Monday, 11 Afghan soldiers died in an IS attack. Two days earlier, a suicide car bomb attack in downtown Kabul killed 100 people. Within a month, the IS and the Taliban repeatedly assaulted Kabul.
Security vacuum
Afghanistan has been plunged into a security crisis by repeated clashes between the Afghan army and Taliban rebels. Many other terrorist organizations including IS have set up networks in Afghanistan. Local security forces have tightened measures nationwide to combat extremist Muslim gunmen. But clashes between the government troops and the rebels have claimed the lives of numerous Afghan troops.
Since the US and NATO withdrew from Afghanistan, Taliban has strengthened its forces and occupied several areas of the country. It has conducted daily attacks against the Afghan security force. According to a 2017 UN report, the Taliban has expanded and strengthened its control over occupied regions. It has also infiltrated the Afghan security force to conduct insider attacks.
The situation raises serious questions about the capacity of the Afghan security force which has been trained and armed by the US. Explaining the reasons for the force’s incompetence, observers say the force was set up hurriedly and is comprised of militiamen of different groups and tribes, some of whom are traditional enemies of each other, and the US has been paying more attention to pushing back IS in Iraq and Syria.
Prolonged war
Last August US President Donald Trump announced a new strategy in Afghanistan to pressure the Taliban to participate in peace talks with the Afghan government. The US also has pressured Pakistan to take tougher measures to halt support for the Taliban who use Pakistan’s border with Afghanistan as a stronghold.
But Trump’s strategy has been ineffective. The Afghan government needs to prove it can ensure public security, but that’s no easy task. Recent attacks by the IS and the Taliban are proof of the government’s ineffectiveness.
The new US strategy is to strengthen the Afghan army and expand the number of US troops in the troubled country. But many groups have claimed responsibility for attacks, showing that the Taliban, IS, Haqqani, Al-Qeada, and many other rebel groups are emerging in Afghanistan.