Daily Times

Afghan President Ashraf Ghani is in trouble. His Washington visit failed due to the US’s reluctance to continue funding and training the Afghan security forces, which are mostly against the US and NATO presence in Afghanistan. The army, in the past, has killed numerous US partners including a major general in green on blue attacks. As the US and its NATO allies are deeply engaged in the sectarian conflict in the Middle East, their attention has been divided and cannot focus mainly on Afghanistan. The Afghan president received only $ 800 million as a shallow tip, which is not sufficient to feed his country’s army. The looming threat of Islamic State (IS) and mass desertion of Afghan army soldiers caused deep frustration. Mr Ghani’s meetings with his US counterpart were part of a five-day visit to the US but he has returned with vanished hope. He could not satisfy the Obama administration. The number of Afghan security forces fell sharply in 2014 and 2015 due to the high rate of desertion. Attrition continues to be a major challenge for the Afghan army. This is one of the biggest security threats to the country. Before his visit to the US, Ghani had demanded a slowing down of the process of US forces’ withdrawal from his country while on his arrival in Washington, the plan was already in the making.
The president faces severe criticism due to his inability to arm the Afghan national army (170,000) and the police (180,000), prevent desertion of the armed forces, complete his cabinet, alleviate poverty and extend the writ of the government to all parts of the country. The emergence of ethnic and sectarian militias together with the establishment of Islamic IS and the Marg militia has endangered the troubled geography of the country. During the last three weeks, over 40 Afghan Shias have been kidnapped by IS. Suicide attacks have begun all over again while the recent terror attacks in Kabul have brought another story of terror and grief. The streets, markets and roads are bloodstained, and everywhere there is the metallic smell of blood. Afghans had expectations that with the coming of the unity government into power, their blood would be saved. Women voted in order to have a voice in parliament but all hopes vanished when violence rippled across the country. Children have fallen prey to sectarian violence while the Taliban check schools to be sure that mature girls are not attending classes.
The abducted Hazaras from Shahjoy district of Zabul province still wait to be secured while, last week, six more people from the Hazara ethnic minority were abducted by armed masked men on the Herat-Farah highway. In another incident, at least 13 civilian passengers, including a woman, were reportedly shot dead by terrorists on the Kabul-Ghazni highway. “Two men came to us and asked our driver where he came from. When he replied that he came from Kandahar, they killed him and moved toward another car,” an eyewitness told an Afghan television channel. On March 29, 2015, a suicide bomber targeted an Afghan member of parliament in Kabul. Mr Gul Pacha Majidi survived. This is the second suicide bombing in the Afghan capital in less than a week.
In Afghanistan, every tired face and pair of eyes have a gory story to narrate but who cares and listens? Women are being stoned to death and raped. Kidnapping has become a profitable business across the country in which ministers, security officials and parliamentarians are deeply involved. Children are barred from education and youngsters are being pushed into forced labour. In Nuristan province, the Taliban hanged seven men last week. People are imprisoned and there is torture in private homes and private prisons. In this unfortunate country, every sunset leaves behind wails and tears, and new episodes of torture and cruelties. More than 10,000 civilians were either killed or wounded in 2014 while more than 5,000 Afghan security personnel were killed during that same year.
Passengers who travel are not safe, women are not safe, government officials are not safe, airports and markets are not safe, children and young girls are vulnerable and the staggering Afghan state is near its death throes but the so-called unity government and its war criminals are happy with their buffoonery and bad governance. Turning a deaf ear to all these misadventures has become a common practice in the country. The government has been unable to undermine this bloody game since its inception. Once, Mr Ghani extended a hand of friendship to Pakistan and then complained that terrorists were coming from across the border. He said that due to Pakistan’s military operation in North Waziristan, more than 200,000 refugees had crossed the border into Afghanistan, endangering the country.
At present, IS is trying to extend its tentacles to all parts of the Afghan state with a number of Taliban leaders already pledging allegiance. The Afghans also do not have armed drones, which are needed for use against al Qaeda and Taliban targets. Mr Ghani was told by his US masters to control corruption in state institutions and demonstrate himself as a professional technocrat because his way of governance has badly failed. As both the president and chief executive have no experience of governance, their relationship has been strained due to some political, military and regional issues.
An endemic system of patronage has infiltrated all government institutions. Former President Hamid Karzai, who has already received an ashirwad (blessings) from Indian PM Narendra Modi and chief of Indian intelligence (RAW), continues to create misunderstandings between Pakistan and Afghanistan. “We want a friendly relationship but not to be under Pakistan’s thumb. We should not send troops for training in any neighbouring country when they are sending us suicide bombers in return,” he warned in one of his press briefings. However, in a recent article, former Afghan Interior Minister Muhammad Omar Daudzai expressed the same concern over Mr Ghani’s rapprochement with Pakistan: “Pakistan’s end game, in other words, is not markedly different today than it has been for years. This is why Mr Ghani’s overtures to Islamabad are dangerous. They are diverting attention away from more essential, perhaps existential, tasks like strengthening the Afghan national security forces, which is critical to increasing the Afghan government’s leverage in any talks with the Taliban.”

The writer is the author of Punjabi Taliban and can be reached at zai.musakhan222@gmail.com