July 12, 2020

The ‘diplomatic’ approach of unleashing terror

topic:	Political violence
located:	Afghanistan
editor:	Shadi Khan Saif

In what seems to be a delayed-yet-brutal ramping-up of armed assaults, the Taliban in Afghanistan this week orchestrated scores of deadly attacks in the war-ravaged country.

In a string of terrorizing attacks in three northern provinces, more than 50 lives were lost and many more hurt physically and emotionally in a single day on Monday. This included all, the Afghan security forces, the insurgents and the unfortunate civilians caught in the crossfire.

On the heels of a fragile-yet-rejuvenated peace process, the insurgents dubbed these attacks as they put it, an answer to those (presumably in the Afghan government) “who do not understand the language of diplomacy.”

Claiming credit for the horrifying attacks, the Taliban claim their opponents in the government are busy securing their personal interests.

The irony of the matter is that just a day earlier, the Taliban categorically rejected mounting calls for a ceasefire, and stated they have no alternative but to continue with the war.

This is a clear reference to the peace parley and indicates evident frustration of the Taliban with the pace with which this complex process – with so many domestic wasted interests and regional as well as global geopolitical strategies attached – has been moving ahead.

Such a brazen display of crude force, by any standards, in the face of growing international calls for truce clearly demonstrates the insurgents’ inclination towards terrorism as an approach to seek and secure the upper hand in the proposed intra-Afghan talks. This may well cost them and their regional backers the little and sudden recognition they got particularly from the U.S. in connection with the February 2020 peace deal inked in Doha.

On the other side, the Afghan government forces, as was seen in Helmand province last week, sometimes react in an equally erratic manner resulting in loss of innocent lives in this useless and senseless war.

But, the Kabul government clearly has an edge over the insurgents as far as support and inclination towards an immediate and nationwide ceasefire is concerned so that the trust deficit is addressed and the peace process gains momentum.

One example of this is the fact that the Afghan President Mohammad Ashraf Ghani almost immediately directed the security forces to go back on the defensive posture and later ceased fire in late February despite an infuriating string of terrorist attacks on a funeral prayers' ceremony and a maternity hospital that prompted him to surge anti-terrorism operations.

Therefore, the Taliban need to understand that the impatient attitude, boasting around with the policy of muscling through to seek an upper hand in proposed peace talks would only cause devastation all around and cost them the little legitimacy they recently got as part of the solution to the Afghan dilemma.

Image by WikiImages 

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