Afghanistan Times
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If the history of the National Unity Government is written properly, some steps and reputations of the government are going to be badly bruised. There would not be a single chapter about good statesmanship. Most of the story will be about the blunders in which the authorities have graduated now. However, there will be a terrible cost only for the nation if the elites in the power corridor continued to ignore the existing and emerging threats. The nation will be alone to face the challenges. By then most of the high-ups would be in their second home of nationality—foreign countries.
Having no chance of meeting with President Muhammad Ashraf Ghani, the deputy governor of Helmand went on Facebook to warn the leaders of possible collapse of the province to insurgents. Mohammad Jan Rasulyar said the southern province was on the verge of collapse. His calls for more troops caught no attention and the result is that the Taliban had launched large-scale attack in Sangin. A senator has confirmed fall of the district to the insurgents. However, the security officials rejected the report.
Helmand province today is not a very significantly different or a better place than it was a year ago. Two years ago there was no fear of collapse; though, insurgents were carrying out subversive activities but not on large-scale. Security situation was widely optimistic then. Independent media had access to the restive parts of the country to present the nature of gains. But now thousands of people in Kunduz, Takhar, Badakhshan, Kunar, Nangarhar, Uruzgan, Helmand, Faryab, Herat and other provinces carry the psychological injuries and left their native towns in search of security. Militants effectively control Helmand and Nangarhar provinces.
The leaders are still stumbling around in the dark because they are relying heavily on foreign support and lack security policy of their own. If they had any policy then insurgency will have not been increased to the current level and the Kunduz city would have not fallen to the Taliban militants. Even if the policymakers had drafted a policy to curtail militancy then it is the flopped one because the law and order situation has deteriorated to a drastic level.
Afghans want to know that the sacrifice has not been in vain and the government would eliminate the prevailing and potential security threats in the country because eastern, western, southern and northern provinces are seeing terror attacks on daily basis.
The top officials should draw a breath and think about the failures and achievements in the past one year. If they cannot think clearly then they should read because the headlines are full of pessimism for Afghanistan. Therefore, military operations with long-lasting affects should be launched in the insecure provinces to recover the areas that are controlled now by the Taliban and Daesh. Till complete elimination of these insurgent and terrorist groups, there will be no triumph. Peace and stability is still far away.
