Afghanistan Times
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President Ashraf Ghani condemned on Monday the gruesome beheadings of seven Hazaras in Zabul, a southeastern province, plagued by rivalries between the Islamic State and the Taliban militants. The decapitated bodies of four men, two women and a child were found late on Saturday in the Arghandab district of Zabul province. Arghandab borders Pakistan. Most of the areas that border Pakistan are plagued by militancy. The governor of Zabul, Anwar Is-haqzai has blamed Daesh for the abductions and the killings of the Hazarites. The victims were kidnapped in neighboring Ghazni province, over the past six months, which means Daesh has been active in the province for over six months.
President Ghani’s office said he was deeply saddened by the killings and would convene a security meeting today. Since the country has been locked in a deadliest war on terror, the government needs to be ready anytime as dereliction of a minute can cause a serious blow. When the government was mulling how to deal with the issue, the Taliban succeeded in rounding the Daesh militants who beheaded the innocent civilians. The Taliban executed those who had beheaded the seven civilians. If a ragtag militant group can round up the Daesh militants and execute them under a well-designed strategy for image makeover and making believe the general public that they stand for justice and civilians’ safety, what the government is doing despite having huge resources, and military might?
Why the government is providing space to others particularly to the Taliban who are no different than Daesh, to exploit the weaknesses on the ground and try to paint themselves to be saviors? Saddened? Will convene a security meeting? Will these actions soothe the grief of those who lost their near and dear ones? This is a stark fact, perhaps indigestible for many, that the government is lacking the will, not the resources, to launch a speedy justice response mechanism.
If the government doesn’t come into movement, starts responding to kidnaps and other social, political and economic injustices, the image of the government will be tarnished to the extent of irreparability. The Taliban and Daesh fighters have been locked in a deadly battle for three days, with a new splinter group believed to have been bolstered up by followers of Daesh, in Zabul, what the government is doing? Why the government didn’t send its troops to prevent the security situation from deterioration?
This is worth reminding to the government that the harder is the conflict, the glorious is the victory, but victory takes a lot of deliberateness, energies, focus, and on top of that continuity of your efforts.
According to official account, up to 400 families loyal to Daesh began settling in Zabul earlier this year, but why the terror group couldn’t be uprooted from the province. Looking at the spread of insecurity and reliance of the government on just issuing statements, even the nation’s dim hopes about the victory is dying.
