Explained: What is happening in Afghanistan?

After several days of conflict in Afghanistan, the Taliban finally regained power. Taliban fighters have now captured the capital Kabul as well as occupied the whole of Afghanistan. Afghan President Ashraf Ghani and other political figures have fled the country. Meanwhile, there is an atmosphere of panic in Afghanistan. Many European countries as well as India, Canada, America are also evacuating their citizens from Afghanistan by plane. Afghan citizens are also shivering at the memory of the former Taliban regime.

Afghanistan is strategically located between Central and South Asia. The region is rich in oil and natural gas. It is also grappling with movements from various Afghanistan-based ethnic groups. The Pashtun population (and to a lesser extent the Baloch population) are particularly included in this. For these and other reasons, Afghanistan has long faced constant interference from the Soviet Union/Russia, the UK, the US, Iran, Saudi Arabia, India, and of course, Pakistan.

US Intervention

The US, which ended the Taliban rule from Afghanistan in 2001, carried out its will in Afghanistan for nearly 20 years. There was also a massive exercise to train the soldiers there. Along with the Taliban, the whole world knew that as long as there are American soldiers in Afghanistan, it is difficult for Taliban rule to come there.

But in the meantime, US President Joe Biden announced the withdrawal of all his troops from Afghanistan by 31 August. After this, the spirits of the Taliban began to rise.

The current situation

The Taliban annexed 26 provinces before capturing the capital, Kabul. According to Al-Jazeera’s Afghan Bureau, fighters attacked Nimroz on 6 August, Jozzan on 7 August, Takhar, Kunduz, Sar-e-Pol on 8 August, Samangan on 8 August, Farah, Baglan on 10 August. Badakhshan on 11 August, Ghazni, Herat, Kandahar on 12 August, Badge, Helmand, Zabul, Uruzgan, Logar, Ghor on 13 August, Balkh on 14 August, Paktia, Dayakundi, Vardak, Kunar, Lagman, Khost, and Nangarhar on 15 August got captured by the Taliban.

Earlier, a Taliban official had said that the outfit would announce a new government from the President Palace, but that plan seems to be shelved for the time being. Afghanistan’s beleaguered president left the country on Sunday and joined thousands of his fellow citizens and foreigners in a stampede as the Taliban advanced. This marked the end of 20 years of Western experimentation aimed at rebuilding the country.

The Taliban spread their legs across the capital and an official of the extremist group said it would soon announce the formation of an ‘Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan’ from President Palace in Kabul.

Why did it happen?

However, now the question arises how did the Afghan soldiers whom America trained for so many days give up so quickly. There are many reasons for this.

• According to media reports, there was no motivation among the corrupt leaders of Afghanistan and the soldiers there to fight for the government. The soldiers were not even getting proper food.
• Afghanistan had 350,000 soldiers on paper. Such a large number was enough to defeat the Taliban but it did not happen. But it is said that only 250,000 Afghan soldiers were in service after the start of the conflict with the Taliban. Most of the people surrendered after running out of ammunition and food items. According to many reports, the soldiers were working without salary for months.
• A major reason for the defeat of the Afghanistan army was that their entire machinery was dependent on others. Even Afghanistan’s Air Force was completely based on external contracts, which left as soon as the fighting started. Due to which Afghan soldiers feel alone in the war with the Taliban.

• Although Afghanistan was completely dependent on the help of America, Biden made a statement a few days ago that Afghanistan will have to fight this battle on its own. There is no point for us to spend any more time there. President Biden is being criticized all over the world for calling the troops. It is being said that America fought that battle for 20 years, which did not yield any result and left the Afghans in the middle.

  

Only time will tell what will be the period of power of the Taliban, but the way the Taliban have captured Afghanistan, its speed has shocked the whole world. But at the same time, questions are also being raised as to ‘Why is the world so helpless in front of the Taliban?’