By: Suraya Raiszada
Afghan National Defense and Security Forces are currently fighting not only the Taliban but 22 international terrorist groups in the country.
The presence of international terrorist groups in Afghanistan and those fighting against the Afghan government makes it clear that the Afghan government officials have repeatedly spoken out and shared their concerns with the international community as President Mohammad Ashraf Ghani in his recent remarks has said that presence of terrorist groups particularly ‘Jaish-e-Mohammad and ‘Lashkar-e-Tyeba’ from Pakistan have made the war in Afghanistan even more complicated.
This complexity of war would pose serious threat to the security of the region and the world. The support of the regional and world powers from Afghanistan in this critical situation can help bring global security and stability.
With strong pro-Taliban lobbying, a number of neighboring and global powers believe that the Taliban is the internal problem of Afghanistan and that this group is trying to impose strict laws on Islamist extremists in the country.
Therefore, they consider that war and conflicts in Afghanistan are an internal issue of Afghans and as a result the Taliban are not a threat to the region and the world. Pakistan and some other countries have assured China and Russia that the Taliban will not pose any threat to them.
It is that claimed that the Taliban do not have links to al-Qaeda anymore. However, the United Nations and other international observers have repeatedly stressed that the Taliban does still have close ties with al Qaeda and other terrorist groups.
A few months ago, al-Qaeda’s second-in-command, Abu Mohsen al-Masri, was killed during an operation by Afghan security forces in Ghazni province. This shows presence of al-Qaeda terrorists in areas that are under Taliban control.
Afghan National Defense and Security Forces (ANDSF) are currently fighting against international terrorism to defend the humanitarian and security values of Afghanistan, the region and the world. If Afghanistan were to become a safe haven for terrorists again, the rest of the world would not be at peace anymore.
In the current situation, most foreign terrorists, alongside the Taliban, are engaged in fighting against the Afghan security forces and the people of Afghanistan. The Taliban, with the financial and military support of Pakistan, have provided the ground for the activities of terrorist groups on Afghan soil.
Afghanistan shares common threats and interests with Central Asian countries, China, Iran and Russia. If these countries do not seriously support the Afghan security forces and the people of Afghanistan, this fire will soon burn all of them.
If neighboring and regional countries do not work and take serious steps to control terrorist groups, they will be soon able to play a card game against the powers of the regions and territories, and undoubtedly the region will fall to the violence will be caused by increasing terrorism and extremism.
The more and easily the geography of Afghanistan transforms into a battlefield and safe haven for terrorist groups, the more it changes a place for controlling these groups. Remember that if we want to put an end to international terrorism, we must eliminate terrorists in the geography of Afghanistan and areas beyond Afghan borders.
The last few decades of experience have shown that extremism is a contagious disease that easily spreads from one individual to another and from one community to another. Extremism brings violence and this violence might create challenges to many communities.
In the meantime, the world has paid little or no attention to the fact that our country, in the last few decades, has been a victim of international terrorism and a victim of terrorism. There have been particularly countries that have not been honest in their response to the suppression of terrorism in the region.
Therefore, the state and the world should not ignore this point. Standing and supporting of the international community from the Afghan National Security Forces is the only way to save humanity from the scourge of terrorism.
