With intensification of Taliban attacks on different parts of the country, particularly in the northern provinces, thousands of residents of these provinces have been mobilized spontaneously and formed local resistance centers to defend their regions. Commanders and members of these locally mobilized people unanimously declared their support of Afghan National Defense and Security Forces and are ready to fight Taliban.
Meanwhile, the Afghan government has announced that would equip and support these forces to enable them to defend their localities against Taliban offensives. On the first days of his taking over as acting Minister of Defense, Gen Bismillah Mohammadi asked local commanders to mobilize their supporters, adding government was ready to put all essential resources at their disposal.
But nowadays, it seems that government’s support from local mobilized forces has decreased. Commanders of mobilized forces complain that essential supports were not taking place for the forces under their command in the battlefields.
Meanwhile, the reduction of support from mobilized local forces might apparently be due to US disagreement with this process. The Special Representative of US for Afghan Peace Process Zalmay Khalilzad in an interview with a local media explicitly said that distribution of armament to these mobilized forces may lead Afghanistan towards a civil war. The western countries’ sensitiveness come only against distribution of weapons to local mobilized forces, but not regarding Taliban’s insurgency and their takeover of the districts.
The other reason which impacted support to local mobilized forces, that there are strong concerns on possible obstinacies and disorders in the provinces, because in the past, access of local commanders to weapons and armaments and arming of irresponsible individuals produced bad consequences.
Afghanistan has been struggling with many difficulties, where important and decisive decisions are essential to be adopted for survival of the system, preservation of recent two decades gains and preventing of Taliban re-domination on the country. The international troops and Afghanistan strategic partners left this country in a very sensitive and difficult situation.
Meanwhile concerns of the western countries on future situation of Afghanistan is no more logical, because Afghanistan has been in a critical situation, which is the outcome of soft behavior of western countries with Taliban and somehow legitimizing their insurgency.
In such a situation, the Afghan government is in need of local mobilized forces’ support to prevent collapse of the system to the hand of Taliban insurgents. Local mobilized forces and their commanders who are ready to support system and ANDSF under the government and fight against Taliban, must be strongly supported.
To overcome Taliban and halt current situation, the Afghan government has no other way except mobilizing people against Taliban, but support of these forces should take place within a clear and specified framework.
ANDSF need support of local mobilized forces in the battlefields to cover them and ensure security of liberated areas. Local mobilized forces have complete acquaintance with terrain structure of battlefields and if they are supported, can manage to play effective role in ensuring security of liberated areas and repulsing of Taliban offensives.
Mobilizing uprising forces essential to tackle Taliban’s increasing insurgency
