First Published Jun 15, 2022, 3:24 PM IST
2021 The Taliban captured the city of Kabul on August 15, just days before the US military’s withdrawal from Afghanistan. With the exception of the weeks-long defense in the Panchsheer Valley alone, the Taliban had not raised any significant resistance in independent Afghanistan. The Taliban, with the help of the Pakistani spy agency ISIS, carried out airstrikes in Panchsheer and quickly overcame that resistance. The world then saw the Taliban’s words as a watershed when it came to power, saying that a government that would be equally important to all sections of the country and recognize women’s emancipation would come to power. One by one, after coming to power, the Taliban broke out of old habits. Ten months later, however, international media reports suggest that defenses against the Taliban are rising again in Afghanistan.
Abdul Rashid Dostam, a former Afghan vice president and warlord who sought refuge in Turkey following the fall of Kabul in August, has reportedly called a meeting of warlords in Afghanistan. At the invitation of Dost, the meeting was attended by about 40 political leaders, including Afghan warlords.
At a meeting in May, the new alliance decided to take a strong stand against the Taliban. Following this, the media, including the Washington Post, reported that the Taliban had resumed their fighting in Panchsheer, where they had been fighting until the end.
Afghan warlords, power brokers and ethnic leaders who fled or were deported from Afghanistan last year ahead of the Taliban’s second entry are reportedly preparing for a showdown in Afghanistan.
Afghan warlords gather in Ankara, including Dostum, who previously amassed wealth under US rule. Ahmed Masood, the leader of the National Resistance Front that defended the Taliban in the Panchsheer Valley, and his uncle, Ahmad Wali Masood, formed a new alliance called the High Council of National Resistance.
The Taliban have put forward two demands for a new alliance. One is to negotiate with the Taliban about their return to Afghanistan and include them in the government. Or face the consequences. A spokesman for Dostoyevsky said in a statement that if the Taliban were not ready for talks, there would be another civil war in Afghanistan.
With this, reports indicate that the stage is being set for another civil war in Afghanistan. Almost all of those gathered in Ankara this time were local warlords who had received financial assistance from the US before the arrival of the Taliban. For the past 20 years, most of the warlords have controlled many parts of Afghanistan with US assistance.
The average age in Afghanistan is 19 years due to the ongoing civil war. The vast majority of the population of about 38 million was raised by war alone. With the end of the Russian occupation, the internal problems in Afghanistan began to rise. As the US entered the arena with vested interests, the civil unrest in Afghanistan came to an end.
Today, local warlords, including Abdul Rashid Dostum, are at the forefront of the fight against the Taliban and are accused of committing numerous assassinations and attacks. When he was deputy to former Afghan President Ashraf Ghani, Dostoyevsky’s own gunmen ruled the streets of Kabul.
Those who had gathered in Ankara included Atta Muhammad Noor (who had his own army during his rule in the province), Hazare leaders, former Mujahideen, former members of the Afghan Republic, and some other warlords. Foreign Policy.com reported that some women also attended the meeting.
Attacks on the Taliban have reportedly increased in northern Afghanistan since the meeting. The Taliban have so far been unable to control the economically and politically devastated Afghanistan. The Second Coming and the tightening of religious laws increased popular opposition to the Taliban.
The warlords consider it an advantage that Western governments, including the US, have not yet recognized Taliban-controlled Afghanistan. With this, they are counting on the support of the people for their return. They also allege that the Taliban have not yet been able to function as a national government.
A spokesman for Dostoyevsky said the national government should include local ethnic minorities. He said the “High Council of National Resistance” would oppose decentralization, central national defense platform, autonomy and any move to turn Afghanistan into a racially dominant region.
Omar Sharifi, an anthropologist in Afghanistan, says it’s not impossible. Afghan warlords have previously demonstrated that there can be a shift from jihad to a much better democracy. Currently, the Taliban’s controls are very bad. So people want a change. Omar added that new alliances may be possible.
The Taliban was first formed in Afghanistan in 1994 during the civil war that erupted after the Soviet occupation. In 1996, just two years later, the Taliban seized control of Afghanistan. However, the imposition of strict religious law and the excessive authority of the Sunni Pashtun lobby made the people enemies.
With the US invasion in 2001, the Taliban retreated to the mountains of Afghanistan. Subsequent U.S. governments decided to end their military presence in Afghanistan, and as part of this, the U.S. military withdrew completely from Afghanistan in August 2022.
This was the second time the Taliban had seized control of Afghanistan. During the second term of the Taliban, the Taliban claimed that the new government would include all sections, unlike the first, and that the old brutal laws would not exist and that women would be given the status of mediators.
However, after taking power, the Taliban’s militant group seized power and formed a government dominated by Sunni Pashtuns. With this, the promises became mere promises. Religious minorities, ethnic minorities and sexual minorities were constantly persecuted.
The perpetrators were given public punishment. Prostitution is a sin. As a crime of accepting punishments such as theft and extortion. People were tried and punished in public. Women’s freedom of movement was restricted. It was strict to cover the face.
There have been reports of girls being abducted from their homes to marry Taliban militants. The formation of the High Council of National Resistance comes at a time when reports are circulating that the people have once again fallen victim to Taliban atrocities.
Either expand the government to include themselves. Or the new alliance’s warning the Taliban to prepare for civil war. It is reported that the Taliban has called an emergency meeting in the new political development.