Daily Times

For all their faults, the Afghan Taliban have usually been quick to claim attacks they have carried out, especially if there is a large number of casualties. Yet after Tuesday’s twin attacks in Afghanistan, one on a hospital in Kabul and the other on the funeral procession of a police commander in the eastern province of Nangarhar, nobody has yet claimed responsibility. The attacks killed dozens including to new born babies at the Kabul hospital, and injured more than a hundred people, and there is still no telling who was responsible for the carnage. Most Afghans are naturally expressing uncontrollable anger at the Taliban, whom they accuse of killing so many of their innocent countrymen once more. The Afghans are sick and tired of mourning loved ones, burying family members, and seeing others on TV feel the same pain as far too many of them have felt over the last three decades.

And while this war must end along with all the violence that it brought and anybody who engaged in it must also feel the full force of the law, it is possible that the Taliban did not carry out Tuesday’s attacks for a few reasons. One, the militia is close to securing an end to the war which will see it catapulted to the power corridors of Kabul once again. Sure, they flex their muscles here and there when the Americans or the Kabul government drag their feet, but nothing on this scale. And they do take responsibility to drive their point in. Two, Nangarhar, the site of the second attack, is also the Afghan stronghold of the militant IS (Islamic State) group. And while not many people know it, the Afghan Taliban and IS have been trying to kill off each other for the good part of the last four or five years. And three, IS has never admitted what it has been up to, while the Taliban consider it tactically important to record all their activities, especially successful (from their point of view) hits.

That is not to let the Taliban off the hook at all. In their quest to win their war they have been ruthless in their counterattack over the last 13-14 years. But then no party, not the least the occupying forces, has its hands completely clean in this long and ugly war. Tuesday’s events only go to show how urgent it is to end it. Sadly the Americans tried only from the point of view of winning President Trump’s reelection. For once, everybody involved should try to end this war because there has been too much needless killing and it just must end now. *