Daily Times

The suicide attack at Kabul airport that has killed 85 people (till the time of writing) didn’t exactly catch anybody by surprise. Nor did the revelation that the Islamic State (IS) was behind the attack come like a bolt from the blue. Security experts had, in fact, been warning about something just like this ever since large crowds thronged to the airport to try and get out of the country before the Taliban shut down all ways of doing just that. In hindsight, it almost seems that the situation created by thousands of people rushing to the runway, making it impossible to maintain tight security, actually amounted to extending a subtle invitation to IS to come and attack. The Americans lost 13 out of the 85 people killed so far, and they are rightly fuming. After being made to cut and run with their tail between their legs, this will now be their last memory of the Afghan outing. And you can count on further humiliation for the Biden administration from the political opposition in Washington, on top of already being accused of botching the withdrawal that his predecessor set in motion by standing the 20-year war strategy on its head and directly talking with the Taliban to end the war.It’s going to be simply impossible to carry on the evacuations from Kabul, not the least because the Taliban are refusing to be flexible about the cut-off date at the end of the month. Therefore the only workable solution that everybody seems to agree on is carrying them out from other countries. Now countries that border Afghanistan, which includes Pakistan, are going to host some thousand foreigners for a few months, till their papers are processed, and then everybody can go home safely and leave the Afghan mess behind them. Also, even though this particular tragedy has passed, it would not be wise not to expect more such attacks; and that too sooner rather than later. IS had been lying dormant for the past many months as the Taliban literally waltzed into Kabul, but they were clearly on the lookout for soft targets that the changing situation was bound to provide. And there’s nothing to suggest that there aren’t more, and even softer, potential targets for IS which it will do anything to take advantage of. Therefore, if there is one point that everybody can agree on, it is that the Taliban must be helped in their battle with IS. *