"Pakistan is responsible for continuing the war in Afghanistan" was the title of a single article written by prominent anti-Taliban commander Ahmad Shah Massoud in 1998 for the French publication Figaro.
In this article, Commander Massoud considers Pakistan's policy and its intervention in the internal affairs of Afghanistan, which, in his opinion, the Taliban was created and developed on this basis, as the main factor in the continuation of the war. When you read this article about the Taliban as well as the group's relationship with Pakistan, you will find that after nearly three decades, neither the Taliban nor Pakistan's policy towards Afghanistan has changed. This article is important in light of the fact that the Taliban have regained power with the help of Pakistan and are at war with the Northern Alliance forces led by the son of Ahmad Shah Massoud.
It has been ten years (at the time of writing) since the Red Army left Afghanistan, but the war and bloodshed in this country continues to this day. What is the reason and who moderates it?
Abroad, the people of Afghanistan are often accused of continuing the war in their own country. Sometimes the current war in Afghanistan is called a war for power, and sometimes they distinguish ethnic, linguistic, and other factors. This look may be part of reality. While, in my opinion, two other reasons most of all contributed to the continuation of the war and the destruction of Afghanistan after the withdrawal of Soviet troops:
First: The neglect of Afghanistan by the West;
Second: The change in Pakistan's policy towards claiming the role of a regional power.
After the defeat of the former Soviet troops in Afghanistan and the final collapse of this empire, the West felt comfortable and forgot about Afghanistan, which was at the forefront of the fight against communism. By contrast, Pakistan, which had had a historic dispute with Afghanistan over the Duran Line (the international border of Duran) for years, was eager to take advantage of the situation.
The presence of millions of Afghan refugees and the offices of jihadist party leaders in Pakistan made it easy for Islamabad to expand their influence in some Afghan circles.
During this period, the government of Pakistan took over the control of foreign aid to Afghan refugees, as a result of which it was able to strengthen its proteges with great opportunities.
Pakistan has until recently deliberately prevented unity and coordination between jihadist parties. On the one hand, as a result of disagreements and fragmentation of the Mujahideen, he penetrated into their ranks, and on the other hand, in external relations he assumed the representation of the Mujahideen known in the world, and to the end retained the role of the representative of the Mujahideen.
The collapse of the Soviet empire, on the one hand, and the material and spiritual support of the world for Pakistan during the years of jihad, on the other, prompted the Pakistani government to adopt a doctrine that would both meet its security needs and expand Pakistan's political and economic territory. The main goal of their strategy is to create a government of henchmen in Afghanistan.
(The following are components of the Pakistani Doctrine):
First: find strategic depth;
Second: access to the untapped resources of Afghanistan;
Third: using Afghanistan as a base for spreading its influence in Central Asia;
Fourth: access to the transport route to Central Asia;
Fifth: Fixing the Durand line problem.
Pakistan has had hostile relations with India and Afghanistan throughout its political life and suffers from both north and south. Pakistan has a longstanding dispute with India over Kashmir and with Afghanistan over the Durand Line, which is a border issue. Thus, from the point of view of Pakistan, the creation of a mercenary government in Afghanistan, on the one hand, meets the economic goals of this country, and, on the other hand, is of vital defense importance for it in subsequent wars with India. This gives this country strategic depth and increases its resilience to Indian attacks.
The issue of the Durand Line is becoming more and more important for Pakistan every year, as the Durand Line Treaty was approaching its centennial (the text of the Durand Line International Boundary Treaty did not specify a date), victorious Afghanistan could not remain silent on this issue.
In view of these issues, Pakistan has strengthened its security strategy towards our country, according to which its policy towards Afghanistan is carried out not by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, but by the Pakistani military. Consequently, the appearance on the scene of one and the departure of the other did not change anything in this respect.
The fall of Dr. Najibullah's communist regime in the spring of 1992 was a disgrace to Pakistani intelligence, as the organization invested in factions in Afghanistan that had no chance of taking over Kabul. On the other hand, Pakistan's sensitivity to the newly established mujahideen government in Kabul increased when the mujahideen were provided with a large amount of weapons and ammunition, from Russian Scud missiles to American Stingers.
Unable to courageously admit their mistakes, the Pakistani military sought to weaken the mujahideen government and began to exploit the differences between the mujahideen. Firstly, they incited and equipped their old friend - Gulbuddin Hekmatyar against the Mujahideen government. When Hekmatyar's failure to defeat the government of Ustad Burhanuddin Rabbani became apparent, Pakistan formed another extremist group called the Taliban, which openly began their armed activities in Afghanistan in the fall of 1994.
The Pakistani military constantly misuses religion to achieve its goals. During the jihad, Gulbuddin Hekmatyar, known for his brutality, was reinforced and received the largest financial and military resources, claiming that only Islamic fundamentalism can answer the communism fundamentalism. But the world soon saw the result of Pakistan's misguided policies when Gulbuddin Hekmatyar established links with terrorist groups around the world and incited war and assassination in many countries.
Unable to bear the economic and political hardships of supporting the Taliban on its own, Pakistan used yet another ploy to justify its intervention in Afghanistan by deceiving the US and Arab countries into supporting the Taliban.
Pakistan has called the Taliban a fundamentalist group, but also an anti-progressive force with no plans outside of Afghanistan. Moreover, Pakistan called the Taliban the only force hostile to the Iranian government, and the US could threaten Iran from the east, strengthening the Taliban.
The Americans were convinced that the success of the Taliban could also bring them great economic benefits. The construction of an oil and gas pipeline from Turkmenistan through Afghanistan to Pakistan and India was one of the major projects through which the Americans thought of great benefits.
Pakistan used the Taliban's discriminatory policies against women and girls as a tactic to avoid backlash from the West. The big mistake of the United States was that during the jihad, Pakistan was given the privilege of permissiveness in the affairs of Afghanistan and to do whatever it wanted with respect to the jihadist parties. This policy gradually led the United States to be Pakistan's follower on Afghan issues. So they saw Afghanistan through the eyes of Pakistan.
After the fall of the regime of Dr. Najibullah and the victory of the Mujahideen, the United States repeated this mistake for the second time, and Pakistan, without any international interference, pursued its aggressive policy in Afghanistan. As a result of this policy, Afghanistan has become the world's largest drug export center, a training base for terrorists, and a disregard for the principles of international law.
For observers of the situation in Afghanistan, it is very interesting that the countries of the world and the UN do not learn from the mistakes of others until they themselves taste the poison of the Taliban. Ms. Emma Bunino became the first high-ranking European official to be insulted and threatened by the Taliban in Kabul, and her entourage was detained for several hours. The world should have learned a good lesson from this incident and prepare for a confrontation with the Taliban.
After capturing the city of Kabul in 1996, the Taliban attacked the UN mission in Afghanistan and, by hanging Dr. Najibullah, who lived there as a refugee, showed that they did not respect the UN. A year later, a senior member of the organization was beaten by a Taliban leader in Kandahar. This was enough for the United Nations to recognize the Taliban. But the organization's weak posture led to the assassination of Carmine Kahlo, an Italian officer who worked for the United Nations in Kabul, a day after a US missile attack on Osama bin Laden's bases.
US satelliteism from Pakistan in Afghanistan has led to the fact that US policy over the past two decades has not had results. The Americans remained silent about Pakistani support for Gulbuddin Hekmatyar until the World Trade Center in New York exploded, proving that the terrorists were trained at Hekmatyar's bases.
They also realized that their optimism about the Taliban was misguided when the US embassies in Kenya and Tanzania were blown up. It should be noted that Mullah Mohammad Omar, the leader of the Taliban, sheltered Osama next to him, established family relations with him and clearly supports him, but Saudi Arabian officials still do not believe this. Mr. Turki Faisal, head of Saudi intelligence, arrives in Kandahar to take Osama away with him, but the result of this trip may be nothing less than insult and humiliation of Turki Faisal by the Taliban. The Taliban have never blamed themselves for their actions, but they are waiting for a reward from God, because they think they killed the infidels and received grace.
In my opinion, it was not very difficult for the world to understand what is the Taliban. These are the ones who take their mothers and sisters and their brothers as slaves. But Westerners and Arabs were so deceived by Pakistan's policies that they could not see the realities so glaring.
My opinion about Pakistani politics is clear. Each country has the right to pursue its own interests at the national and international levels, but unfortunately, Pakistan has used the most repressive methods to implement its strategy in Afghanistan, which history has rarely seen.
The Pakistani government has not stopped at provoking and equipping its mercenary forces against the Afghan people, and has done irreparable damage to the nation by contacting various people and groups and inciting them to fight and pillage. Hundreds of tanks, cars and dozens of factories were blown up with dynamite (explosives) by Pakistani henchmen and sold to Pakistan. Irrigation streams and dams were systematically destroyed, agriculture is in stagnation. The forests of Afghanistan are severely cut down and their timber is exported to Pakistan.
The Afghan army collapsed due to internal divisions among the factions, and most of the former members of the ANA were forced to take to the streets of Pakistan as guest workers. Most of the military equipment and bases were destroyed and decommissioned.
Ethnic and linguistic contradictions provoked by Pakistan among the Afghan people intensified, and the war and bloodshed were unprecedented. This summer, the Taliban killed thousands of residents of Mazar-i-Sharif for their ethnic and religious affiliation. The hostility escalated to the point that the Taliban practically pursued a policy of ethnic cleansing in the north of the country. Thousands of families were forced to migrate, hundreds of young women and girls were kidnapped by them.
The monuments of Afghanistan were destroyed during the wars, and items related to the country's museums were sold in Pakistani markets. Government officials were relieved of their duties or imprisoned under various pretexts, which destroyed the administrative system of Afghanistan.
Schools in Afghanistan have been closed, while Pakistan has instead built schools for migrant children and youth in Quetta and Peshawar to force people to emigrate, undermining their pride and patriotism.
The situation of women and girls in the areas controlled by the Taliban is much worse. Women are not allowed to study or travel outside the home, and are therefore not even allowed to be treated in Taliban-controlled hospitals.
It was part of Pakistan's policy for Afghanistan and its people to recognize its dominance. Thus, what is happening in Afghanistan now is not a war, but a catastrophe that is increasing in scale every day and is close to colliding the countries of the region with the fate of Afghanistan.
The training of hundreds of terrorists by Pakistani officers and the cooperation of the Taliban in areas of Afghanistan's eastern border are rapidly spreading war and chaos among Afghanistan's neighbors. In these areas, military training is carried out from Kashmiri militants to Ferghana and Chinese terrorists of Xinjiang province. The Taliban call Osama, involved in several terrorist attacks, a guest and a hero.
Poppy cultivation in Afghanistan is on the rise as Taliban-controlled territory expands. According to the latest statistics, 32,000 tons of opium were produced in Afghanistan this year (in 1998), which is 16% more than last year. The Taliban take tithes from poppy farmers. This is done not only to strengthen their financial power, but also to give religious legitimacy to poppy cultivation and encourage farmers. Taliban leaders and high-ranking Pakistani officers have a share in drug trafficking, each sending their share by air and land, first to Central Asia and then to Europe and the United States.
After the victory over communism, I expected, like many of my compatriots, that the world, and especially neighboring countries, would thank our people for the destruction of communism and heal their wounds. By covering their chests, the inhabitants of our country saved the lives of millions of people in neighboring countries and the world, in fact, defended their freedom and well-being. But in the end, Pakistan stabbed us from behind, the US listened to Pakistan, and Europe became indifferent.
The peoples of the world must know that the danger of the Taliban is no less than the danger of communism. There is still a chance to resist this, and the Afghan people are at the forefront of this struggle. The fight against terrorism, drugs and the fight against those who do not recognize human rights and do not adhere to any criteria.
Inside Afghanistan, people are ready to fight. The people consider the Taliban a Pakistani mercenary and are looking for opportunities to revolt. Mujahideen fronts are present in many parts of the country. The Mujahideen are located 15 km north of the capital Kabul.
In recent days, the city of Talokan, the center of Takhar province and a number of other areas have been liberated from the control of the Taliban. In the provinces of Balkh, Jowzjan, Saripul and Faryab, thousands of armed Mujahideen are preparing for a large-scale offensive. People in Taliban-controlled areas are fed up with their oppression and terror. Recently, a popular uprising broke out in the eastern provinces of the country, which was suppressed by the intervention of the Pakistani military.
The Taliban's internal divisions are growing day by day. The surrender of Taliban commanders to the Mujahideen across the country has accelerated. Many of them have realized their mistake and have no motive for war. Two things the outside world can do to end this human catastrophe:
First, sending humanitarian aid to a war-torn and suffering nation;
Second, insist on an end to the Pakistani intervention.
