Afghanistan Times
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The lagging unresolved issues in the peace process have facilitated a conducive environment for terrorist groups – especially Daesh – to solidify their footprints and show that they are still capable of wreaking havoc even if there’s a reconciliation deal among the Afghan government and the Taliban. This means the proxy war in Afghanistan would continue to take Afghan lives and peace and stability would elude the country. In a recent horrific attack, the main prison in eastern Nangarhar province was stormed by Daesh or so-called Islamic States (IS) that resulted in casualties to 73 people, including civilians and security personnel. The 11 assailants all got killed in a crossfire that lasted for nearly 20 hours, when many of the prisoners attempted to escape, among whom some were rearrested. Daesh claimed responsibility and the Taliban denied their involvement in the attack at a time when an Eid truce between the Taliban and government came to an end a day before. These attacks in the wake of sluggish progress in the peace process mean that violence wouldn’t be brought to an end in the country even if there is a peace deal among the warring sides. There are now reports that the Daesh is recruiting those Taliban insurgents who are against peace with the government of Afghanistan while there’s no one to avert that from happening. These are the early indications of the fact that the proxy responsibility having been discharged by the Taliban so far is going to be delegated to such extremist and terrorist groups now. Meanwhile, this increased level of violence signifies that the regional countries and spoilers are trying to find alternatives to the Taliban in order to advance their interests – for which an unstable Afghanistan is a sine qua non. Similarly, the resurgence of Daesh at this point in time also speaks volumes about the insincerity of the key stakeholders in Afghan peace because they are the ones who pull strings and reins of the current dynamics in Afghanistan. The only solution, at this juncture, is for Afghans to realize that they shouldn’t continue to play at the hands of such hypocrite allies, who have been snakes growing up our own sleeves. As long as there is disunity among Afghans – mainly provoked by such elements – the country will elude peace and conflict will continue to agonize the masses.
