And the war goes on

16 years later, the war on terror still marches on

“The successful hunt of Taliban leadership might have slowed down the activities of the group, but has hardly had any influence on the persistence of insurgency, which till date remains a bitter reality in Afghanistan. The irony is that these insurgent groups have organised themselves enough to not just recruit for themselves, but to train and nurture this new breed of militants into becoming leaders of the insurgency tomorrow.”

Into its sixteenth year, the war in Afghanistan has proven to be persistent even though the US and its allies have had major successes in terms of eliminating key leadership of the resistance every now and then, creating a room for hope of peace in Afghanistan and the region at large. With every major elimination from among the top hierarchy of the Taliban, there has been hope for putting an end to the long lasting violence and replacing it with durable peace in Afghanistan.

However, the idea of peace in Afghanistan, overwhelmed with hopes, yet remains a dream far from its fulfillment as the new Taliban commander rejects any possibility of peace talks with the US and Afghan Governments. Nominated as the rightful successor of Mullah Akhtar Mansoor, Haibatullah Akhundzada, the new ameer of Afghan Taliban, pledged that the resistance would continue and there will be no surrender on the sovereignty of their land and their rightful jihad.

Bearing a deeply religious, but a non-combatant character, Haibatullah Akhundzada’s appointment as the leader of Afghan Taliban seemingly was expected to pave way for peace talks. However, the audio message by the newly appointed Taliban commander, hence again, proved to be an eye-opener for US and Afghan governments, as it ruled out peace talks, and reassured all jihadi elements to continue their struggle for control in Afghanistan.

The audio message, besides the appointment of Haibatullah as the new ameer of the Taliban, also announced Sirajuddin Haqqani (head of the Haqqani network) and Maulvi Muhammad Yaqoub (son of Mullah Muhammad Umar) being named as deputies to the new ameer. Even though not experienced in battling, the appointment of Maulvi Muhammad Yaqoub as a deputy to the new ameer appears to be a smart move towards keeping the Taliban movement united.

Inexperienced in combat and militancy, both Haibatullah Akhund and Maulvi Muhammad Yaqoub appear to be  vulnerable to the influence of Sirajuddin Haqqani, who unlike the two, comes as a highly experienced and skilled combatant commander and has been leading the Haqqani network termed as the most lethal insurgent operative group. The likelihood of Haqqani’s influence in the decisions related to militancy is a definite cause of concern for US and her allies, and may cause trouble for Pakistan as well since Haqqani network operated from North Waziristan.

Experts believe that the situation, instead of improving, will now get worse and the US and Afghan forces must be ready to deal with hard core insurgency to follow the month of Ramadan.

The successful hunt of Taliban leadership might have slowed down the activities of the group, but has hardly had any influence on the persistence of insurgency, which till date remains a bitter reality in Afghanistan. The irony is that these insurgent groups have organised themselves enough to not just recruit for themselves, but to train and nurture this new breed of militants into becoming leaders of the insurgency tomorrow. Successful targeting Taliban leaders will not yield desirable outputs as long as this supply line of futures possible successors is not weakened and ultimately cut off.

“Inexperienced in combat and militancy, both Haibatullah Akhund and Maulvi Muhammad Yaqoub appear to be  vulnerable to the influence of Sirajuddin Haqqani, who unlike the two, comes as a highly experienced and skilled combatant commander and has been leading the Haqqani network termed as the most lethal insurgent operative group.”

Whatever unfolds in future, it must be assured that we keep moving forward towards the establishment of peace in Afghanistan. Peace should be more than just an idea or a dream. It must be real for all!  Particularly for the people of Afghanistan, who have witnessed the brutality of war for over three decades.  All necessary means and steps should be taken, and together we must all work towards the restoration of peace in this region, making life of people here worth living.