Carnage in Kabul

At least 95 people were killed and 163 others wounded in a suicide bomb attack in the Afghanistan Capital Kabul on Saturday near Jamhuriate Hospital. The explosion happened at about 1 pm when a suicide bomber detonated an explosive laden ambulance in a busy area of the city. The blast happened in the area where several high-profile organizations, including European Union have offices. Afghan Talban has claimed the responsibility of the bombing.  This is the second deadliest terrorist attack in Kabul in the last eight days. Five gunmen stormed the Intercontinental Hotel in Kabul on 20th January. The attack left 40 people dead and 22 injured.

The United Sates abandoned Afghanistan after the withdrawal of Red Army of former Soviet Union and left it at the mercy of Afghan Warlords. Afghanistan’s President Dr. Najebullah wanted a transfer of power to Afghan Tanzimat in through a UN brokered agreement for which the UN representative for Afghanistan Benon  Sevan was making efforts. However, UN did not receive the required support from the United States. Again after the fall of Najee ullah regime the war between the Afghan warlords intensified and the super powers did not perform their role in bringing peace and stability to Afghanistan. The unabated fratricidal war there created a political vacuum which paved the way for the rise of Taliban. The international community did not engage them in a meaningful dialogue and consequently Afghanistan became a safe heaven for terrorist groups of different nationalities.  Had the United States and other world powers fulfilled their international responsibilities and stabilized Afghanistan after the withdrawal of Soviet forces, the country would have not become epicenter of global terrorism and the tragic incident of 11/9 would have been avoided. The United States would have not landed in the Afghan quagmire.

The bitter experience of battle for the past 16 years should have convinced the American leadership that winning war against an amorphous enemy in Afghanistan with a tremendous military might is not possible and the war can be ended through a dialogue involving all the stakeholders of this conflict. In this regard Afghan Taliban should be reckoned a party to the conflict and should not be ignored in peace initiatives. The United States was invited to the 12 party peace conference held in Moscow in April 2017 but it did not attend this important moot. The role of Russia, China, Central Asian States, Pakistan and Iran needs to be recognized in the resolution of the current Afghan war.

There is another misconception in Washington that Pakistan is not a part of the solution and it is part of the problem. Ironically, the present ruling political leadership is not seriously engaging the US administration to ally their misgivings and convince them that Islamabad is keen to support all the diplomatic initiatives for restoring peace and stability in Afghanistan. The statement of the Prime Minister Shahid Khaqn Abbasi that Pak-US Relations haven on the downward trajectory for the last 15 years and sharp critique of President Trump will not help to mend the ruptures in bilateral relation. Friendly relations and closer cooperation between Washington and Islamabad is inevitable for resolution of Afghan issue, peace and stability in the region. Besides this, civilian leadership of Pakistan should undertake frequent interactions as a confidence building measure with the ruling Afghan leadership who always lay the  blame of violence and terrorist attacks on our doors.