The planned and final withdrawal of foreign troops from Afghanistan began on 1 May 2021, threatening renewed unrest and even civil war in an impoverished nation that remains heavily dependent on foreign aid and is also burdened by ethnic conflict, political instability, internecine violence, and corruption based on a patronage system. The last British troops left on 24 June, and the last US troops are due to leave by 31 August. This withdrawal by America and its NATO allies is the direct result of a peace treaty signed between the US and the Taliban in Doha, Qatar, on 29 February 2020, which gives the Taliban the responsibility for ensuring that Afghanistan does not become a haven for terrorists ill disposed towards the West.
Landlocked Afghanistan sits at the heart of south-central Asia, harbouring a population of over 39 million. Its fourteen major ethnic groups are divided by geography, language, culture, and religion (Shia versus Sunni), making it a particularly difficult country to govern. To complicate matters, few of these groups are indigenous to Afghanistan, which encourages cross-border loyalties . The largest ethnic group, the Pashtuns, are indeed more numerous in neighbouring Pakistan. Afghanistan’s location along important east-west trade routes has previously attracted the attentions of the ancient Greeks, followed by the Mongols, Mughals, British, and Soviets. Successive foreign invaders have failed to make any lasting impact, leading Afghanistan to be described as the “graveyard of empires”.
The Taliban is the most powerful insurgent group in Afghanistan at present. The Taliban movement started out as a militia of Pashtun religious students, founded by Mullah Mohammed Omar near Kandahar in September 1994. The one-eyed Pashtun, once a village religious teacher, was appointed leader (amir) the following month. Omar was then elected Amir ul-Momineen (Leader of the Faithful) by a grand assembly (shura) of clergymen (ulama) of the Taliban on 3 April 1996. The Taliban entered Kabul in September 1996, ushering in a period of puritanical and barbaric rule, paradoxically funded by the country’s lucrative opium trade. The Taliban Emirate introduced strict Sharia law, bringing in severe punishments (amputations) and public executions (stoning and hanging), while severely curtailing women’s rights. On 1 March 2001, a nationwide programme of destruction of cultural monuments began, culminating in the destruction of the two giant Buddhas of Bamiyan on 11 March.
The latest foreign intervention on Afghan soil began on 7 October 2001, in the aftermath of the 11 September terrorist attacks on the US. The Taliban had refused to hand Afghanistan-based Osama bin Laden, leader of al-Qaeda, over to America for trial. The US and UK thus launched Operation Enduring Freedom, targeting al-Qaeda training camps and Taliban compounds in Afghanistan with Tomahawk missiles and laser-guided bombs. This was the start of President Bush’s Global War on Terror. Afghanistan’s Northern Alliance of non-Pashtun groups supported the coalition efforts, and Kabul was occupied by November. The Taliban then surrendered Kandahar and Mullah Omar fled the country on 9 December. UN Security Council Resolution 1386 (December 20) sanctioned NATO’s International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) to support the Afghan Transitional Authority in maintaining security and in nation-building efforts following the withdrawal of the Taliban. Hamid Karzai, the Pashtun leader of the transitional administration, was elected President on October 2004, remaining in post until September 2014. Karzai worked towards national reconciliation, economic growth and improved foreign relations, but his period in office was also marked by corruption and electoral fraud. Since Karzai’s departure, pro-Western power-sharing governments have been in charge of the nation.
The two-decade-long foreign intervention in Afghanistan has yielded mixed results at best. While there has been some progress, in terms of education, healthcare, governance, infrastructure development, and even access to mobile phones, the human cost has been unduly high. As of April 2021, at least 48,000 Afghan civilians, including women and children, have died as a direct result of the conflict, although these numbers almost certainly are underestimates and vary according to source. Many more Afghans have also been displaced from their homeland, joining the swelling ranks of refugees.
The 13-year NATO combat mission ended on 31 December 2014, with almost 3,500 fatalities among NATO troops. Over the entire 20-year period of intervention, 457 British military personnel and 2, 448 Americans lost their lives . Operation Enduring Freedom was replaced in 2014 by Operation Freedom’s Sentinel, a training mission to ensure domestic security. These deaths in Afghanistan resulted from ground engagements, airstrikes, suicide bombings, and command detonated explosions. Many more were seriously injured and even disabled for life by landmines and victim-activated Improvised Explosive Devices, not to mention other war-related illnesses such as PTSD. Numerous civilian deaths followed the secondary effects of warfare: malnutrition, the destruction of healthcare facilities, environmental contamination, among others. To add to this are the more recent ravages of the Covid-19 pandemic.
Uncertain times lie ahead. The absence of a ceasefire and a negotiated internal political settlement have enabled the Taliban to consolidate its power and acquire new territories in the process. The ability of the Afghan National Defence and Security Forces to contain dissent and maintain the peace remains in question. The foreign intervention, costly in human and monetary terms, can by no means be considered a mission accomplished. If anything, the Taliban, once a major target for the invading coalition, now holds the cards in Afghanistan. It is now left to a fragile Afghan state, acting largely on its own, to determine its destiny. “Enduring freedom” is yet to become reality.
Ashis Banerjee