Afghanistan Times
Related Articles
It started with the collusion. Without collusion such a biggest blow cannot be dealt to the Afghan national army troops, who are well trained in the defense of the country and ever never show their back. But yes despite that it’s a shocking and heart-wrenching blow. In a major assault on the Afghan national army troops, the Taliban killed, maimed and kidnapped at least 33 troops in Jurm district of north-eastern Badakhshan, once known to be relatively a calm province. The Ministry of Defense Deputy Spokesman, Dawlat Waziri, said Thursday that local officials were in collusion with militants in Badakhshan that led to the carnage of the troops in an outpost in the province. Now that he has lifted the lid on a highly sensitive subject it must be thoroughly investigated and those involved in collusion must be severely punished.
A photo that went viral on social media where a toddler is sleeping beside a portrait of her dad, while on her hands in on the face of her dad in uniform that looks to be of one of those fallen in the carnage caused by the horrendous betrayal. His photo looks brighter. His little cute daughter is the hope, while the situation and gloom seen and felt in the portrait screamingly calls on the two leaders of national unity government to bury their hatchet. The portrait implores the President and the Chief Executive to avoid running after their egos, dump their differences, and think about the unity and peace of the nation. If the two leaders don’t iron their differences out, the one will introduce the minister for defense while another one will introduce the army chief where a situation will arise that neither the army chief will obey the defense minister nor the defense minister will be in touch with the army chief. And the loss will be sustained by the nation and this largest institution—army, which is the only hope. Currently the defense forces are running military operations in a while when there is no defense minister. The loss of 31 troops at the hand of the Taliban and that too in a horrendous way is an incident of not only grief but also shame as how collusion led to their loss and how Afghan security troops received a setback who were going supremely well against the insurgents. The Badakhshan police chief, Gen. Baba Jan, has alleged that a number of provincial officials, including MPs and Provincial Council members have provided clandestine support to the Taliban in the area. The government cannot overlook this national tragedy and it will have to carry out serious probe into the incident. Any deliberate delay or avoidance may lead to further chaos and it may spark anger in the powerful institution—army. This institution should be kept aloof from political differences inside the government. Most importantly, without catching the foes in friends’ disguise who are supporting the militant groups we cannot sketch a better tomorrow. Those who are supporting insurgency, either directly or indirectly, should be brought to the court of justice.
