Afghanistan Times
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Despite the ongoing peace process and negotiations, there has been no tangible result achieved so far to help the war-ravaged Afghans heave a sigh of relief. The parties into conflict have failed to agree upon on armistice as of yet while violence rages on. Lamentably, the Afghans masses and civilians – including women and children – are bearing the brunt and staggeringly losing lives in the crossfire through no fault of their own. A recent drone strike in Shindand district of western Herat province targeting a Taliban Splinter Group Commander Mullah Nangialai reportedly killed at least 60 civilians as a by-product. This situation provides food for thought and makes one question why are they occurring unabated? Moreover, governmental officials are very tight-lipped to provide details and are dodging questions to reveal information about the casualties. The raid on slain Nangialai – who was believed to have been a pro-government commander considering his favors to government forces at people’s behest – is said to be carried out by NATO’s Resolute Support Mission in coordination with Afghan and US forces.
On the other hand, critics have rebuked the local officials’ silence on the drone strike in Shindand. These unintended civilian fatalities come as the Afghan intelligence agency operatives in an unprecedented incident in the capital city of Kabul have recently stormed a house and killed Former Jihadi Commander Abdul Sattar. The government has reportedly appointed a fact-finding delegation to investigate the operation. These unquestioned incidents, not particularly something new, continue to occur without any reduction in intensity. The government always assures of launching nominal probes into such inhumane incidents but they never see the light of day and Afghans don’t get to see the truth of the matter. These incidents speak of the recklessness during such operations and of utter disregard for human life. As the victim families’ calls go unnoticed, the human rights organization should strive to discharge their moral duty and deliver them justice. Meanwhile, it’s advisable for the government to put an end to such attacks because it’s escalating public hatred towards the establishment. Therefore, it doesn’t reflect well on the government and international forces to claim, on one hand, of protecting the civilians, while on the other, take their lives carelessly and brazenly. The collateral damage from the Afghan war is slowly snowballing out of control and the ordinary Afghans are fed up with the situation, necessitating a swift solution to this issue.
