By Haider Abbas
There is now a matter of hours and not days when US is slated to move out of Afghanistan after its most humiliating defeat as it had to sit across the table with Afghan-Taliban (AT) after waging a war against them for 20 years. US was to evacuate Afghanistan by September 11 to mark the end of its ‘endless-wars’ but this ‘leaving’ came early, as July 4, coincides with US Independence Day! There is an utter chaos in Afghanistan as President Ashraf Ghani returned after meeting US President Joseph Biden, amid the danger of retribution lurking from AT against those who have been supportive of US and NATO allies.
It was expected of US to bid adieu by September but the tremendous hurry which US showed has baffled the world powers as well as the political analysts, towards the zero-sum-game which is the upcoming scenario emanating from Afghanistan. In one of US prime news website, USAToday, there has been an editorial on July 1 1 airing concerns towards the fate of those Afghans who have been supportive of US. It said, ‘This July Fourth, America will leave Afghanistan independence in its death throes. Our View: Biden administration should evacuate as quickly as possible Afghans who worked with U.S. forces and now risk retribution from the Taliban. The Biden administration is at least planning to evacuate thousands of Afghans who worked with U.S. forces and now risk retribution from the Taliban. They’re to be taken to other countries while processing U.S. entry applications. The lives of 18,000 are at stake, along with about 53,000 family members. The task is daunting. Necessary. And the time to accomplish is quickly running out.’ It had earlier on, through BBC on May 31 2, known that UK had ‘plans to rapidly relocate hundreds more Afghans who worked for the British military and UK government, mostly as interpreters, have been announced. Including family members, more than 3,000 Afghans are expected to be allowed to settle in the UK, joining 1,300 who have already done so’
Perhaps, in the backdrop of the news that AT are capitalizing and Ghani government is receding, it may easily be construed that US should not have given a deadline for its withdrawal. It is being argued the world across, as an article in Indian
Observer Research Foundation on June 17 3 also showed, ‘The US withdrawal from Afghanistan: A strategic blunder in the making’. It is today anybody’s guess that once after US is to leave fully the Ashraf Ghani government will only be a matter of months which will be nothing short of the worst possible scenario for US and its allies.
No wonder, The Washington Post on June 28 4 , chose to inform that ‘Republican lawmakers have urged Biden to delay the departure. Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) said the administration has “chosen to abandon the fight” against the Taliban “and invite even greater terrorist threats” . The article was ironically titled ‘ Biden’s lose-lose game in Afghanistan’. It may however be known that General Scott Miller, the commander of US Army in Afghanistan, even in the last hours of departure, expressed great ‘worries’ over the AT gains, and as understood, US was to scuttle any such advancement.
Hence, US bombed AT strongholds which was announced by Ministry of Defense Afghanistan in a series of tweets on June 30 that a number of AT were killed in airstrikes conducted by Afghan Air Force in Alishing, Qaraghae, Laghman, Deh Rahwod district of Uruzgan and Ghoryan district of Herat. But, AT are yet on the gaining side as AT gained a Russian T-72 tank and a massive seizure of light weapons along with 4 Howitzer artilleries and American M1117 Armored Security Vehicles on July 1.
US is now finally slated to move-out on July 4, and NATO forces, with the exception of Turkey, is to push-out until September 11, hence, in these last around 2 months there is an expected bloodbath in Afghanistan, which is also expected to escalate even beyond, as Afghanistan is likely to descent into a civil-war, which is also likely to envelope Pakistan, a persistent player in Afghanistan in the last two-decades! Pakistan is therefore, to be under attack by forces inimical to AT, as Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) and Daesh-both against AT, have started to mobilize against Pakistan alongside Baluchistan Liberation Army (BLA).
Meanwhile, as AT seems set to gain ground in Afghanistan, it is likely that Pakistan is now to be bled, as TOI on June 30 5 tells that two Pakistan army men were killed in North Waziristan owing to firing, and Economic Times on May 6 6 , informs that four Pakistan soldiers were killed in an ambush in Zhob district in Baluchistan and TTP took claim to it. There is certainly a spurt in such attacks and which is all probably to grow in size in the ensuing months. There is also a reported blast near BA Mall, Askari Park in Quetta, Baluchistan, according to Regional Telegraph on July 1 7 which says, ‘6 people including Sepoy Mubeen, Sepoy Sharjeel, Naik Waseem, Sepoy Zainuddin, Sepoy Asghar and Sepoy Niaz were injured when their vehicle was struck by the IED explosion. All were army men.
There is now a regional game being unfolded in Afghanistan, which will definitely have direct ramifications for India as Russia, China-both bête noirs of US, are involved in it along with Pakistan. India is steadfast with US which is bowing-out from Afghanistan amid the world-war-III threat issued by Russian President Vladimir Putin, tells RepublicWorld, on July 1 8 . Putin is preparing to visit for the first time to Pakistan this month while Pakistan PM Imran Khan is to visit China by end of July. China’s Premier Xi Jinping is also expected to visit Pakistan in August.
Both superpower giants Russia and China are helping out AT while US is trying to search for room to improvise after its disastrous 20 years of Afghanistan war, which resulted in killing of more than than two million people in Afghanistan and Iraq by virtue of invading these nations in the aftermath of September 11, 2001 New York twin-towers attack. The same date allocated for the final-walk-out of US from Afghanistan. What happens next is for the world to see?