The Truth About Taliban Afghanistan

The Truth About Taliban Afghanistan

Terrorism, Isolation and Hunger

When the Taliban resurgent stormed back into power in August 2021, it promised the world a new look, they would be more moderate, more pragmatic and would honor their international commitments. The major commitment was the 2020 Doha Agreement with the United States, in which it promised to ensure that Afghanistan does not become a terrorist haven. However, almost four years on, we are left in no doubt as per the latest quarterly report by the U.S. Special Inspector General in Afghanistan Reconstruction (SIGAR), the Taliban have not performed.
This fact and many others in the SIGAR report create a damning picture of a regime that has literally transformed Afghanistan into a playground of terrorists. Al-Qaeda, ISIS‑Khorasan (ISIS‑K) and Tehrik‑i‑Taliban Pakistan (TTP) are allowed to go about their work with impunity. Quite on the contrary, the Taliban has allowed extremist infrastructure to expand, jeopardizing stability in the region, pushing Afghanistan more into isolation and hunger.

Doha Agreement is a toothless paper

Doha Agreement was to bring in peace. As a matter of fact, it has turned out to be useless documents that are flouted by a system that talks of peace yet leaves room to violence in the backyard. It is also true that this is lip service by the Taliban leadership in that they have been tolerating the strengthening of jihadist networks.
Just like SIGAR found out, in fact, the Taliban are not fighting terrorism; they are nourishing it. Their hypocrisy takes us back to the 9/11 days when Afghanistan harbored the global jihadist brigade. The country is now drifting back to that darkness and the world can already see the disastrous consequences of this.

TTP: A Powder‑Keg of the Region

Specifically, the existence of the TTP in eastern Afghanistan is of concern. The Taliban is still giving protection to the TTP to carry out fatal operations in Pakistan. Islamabad, which once proved helpful in the Taliban’s ascendancy now, has to pay the price on blood. The cross-border activities of this group to not only jeopardize the Pakistani security but also pose a potential threat to the otherwise unstable situation of the region of South and Central Asia.
It highlights an alarming fact that the Taliban is unwilling to deviate its ideology to other militant groups despite the resources that may be at stake and other diplomatic or security obligations.

ISIS‑K: The new evil on the planet

Whereas Al-Qaeda is a pale shade, ISIS‑K is the straight edge of the terrorism revival in Afghanistan. The SIGAR report states that ISIS‑K has become the biggest transnational terrorist threat that originates in Afghanistan. ISIS‑K makes use of the chaos the Taliban cannot (or will not) handle, as it is known to violently attack civilians: the mosques of Shia, the embassies of international states, and so on.
Failure by the regime to stamp out the ISIS‑K at a time when it claims that it is the only regime ready to bring stability in Afghanistan is a strategic failure as well as a credibility crisis.

Humanitarian Collapse is to be understood as policy, not accident

Militants live well and ordinary Afghans die of hunger. The total number of people being served by humanitarian assistance has risen to more than 28 million, representing two‑thirds of the population. American aid has been frozen, United Nations initiatives are thwarted, and worldwide donors are reluctant to help a government which violates human rights.
This is not accidental humanitarian disaster it is policy induced collapse. The Taliban oppressive regime and closing of girl’s schools at the secondaries level and higher education as well as the prohibition of women to work and the mirth of the media and the suppression of civil society have made donors wary and choked the economic possibilities in Afghanistan. The Taliban have ensured that the country will starve by isolating it as international norms have it.

Selective Isolation: Hypocrisy Only Way Out

Through this Taliban leaders hope that their country will receive international recognition and access to their foreign funds which were frozen by the international world but in vain. The rights of the women are no longer there. The minority is marginalized Rebellion is squashed Effectively, diplomacy with the Taliban has turned into the road on a one‑way traffic they want to get something good without any changes.
The latest Doha negotiations between the Taliban and the international stakeholders bores no fruit. The regime is still not keen to make any token gestures in the name of inclusivity or counterterrorism. Rather, it is playing on the projection that the rest of the world will finally accept their rule due to fatigue of Afghanistan.

Governance vacuum in Afghanistan

Statesmen have been replaced by armed ideologues who are ruling Afghanistan today. The way they see governance is all about repression. Along with edicts and enforcement of medieval restrictions, there is no plan of recovery in the economy, no strategy of infrastructure development, nor a viable plan of counterterrorist operations.
The loud alarm bell is the SIGAR report. Afghanistan is not recovering; it is becoming hard under the leadership of militants. A tandem of terrorist havens humanitarian breakdown and diplomatic isolation is building a dangerous triangle which endangers not only Afghans but also local and international stability.

No, Not an Afghan Crisis Only!

The hypocrisy of the Taliban is not a situation in local area. Afghanistan is a hotbed instability due to their harboring of extremists sheltering of transnational jihadists as well as inclination not to reform. The dangers go way beyond its boundaries, and they could reverse the thought of having the global terrorism networks eliminated.
It cannot be ignored by the international community. Military intervention is not up for discussion, but other means exist binding sanctions against Taliban leaders diplomatic pressure against regional supporters and strengthening of Afghani civil society in exile. Unless we organize a concerted effort, there will be only a downward trajectory of Afghanistan to an even failed country and a revealed terrorist hideout.

Second reign of the Taliban has built on the fears of the doubters promises are useless the peace treaties can be used as a weapon and ideology is more valued compared to people welfare. The country of Afghanistan is now a place of terrorists lost women in the society and starving millions.
The report, by SIGAR, is not only a report, but also a warning. In the absence of a decisive international intervention, Afghanistan will simply establish itself the new nerve center of world jihadism and this will have repercussions in Kabul to Karachi Washington to Beijing.
Taliban may envision having legitimacy through UN recognition but that cannot be established based on the pressure and manipulation of people and through starvation. Until a ruler in Afghanistan learns that power can be earned through governance not the shoe of a gun Afghanistan will continue to be what it is now when the said leaders are running the country a land where terror is bloomed no one wants it anymore when the world but the populace is left to be starved in silence.

Disclaimer:

The views and opinions expressed in this article are exclusively those of the author and do not reflect the official stance, policies, or perspectives of the Platform.