–Blank NEWS Online (NIGERIA) –By Austen AKHAGBEME:
IT is always a different and strange experience when the hunter suddenly turned the hunted. The very reason why the vicious circle of violence may last longer than expected in crisis-ridden Afghanistan.
As of today, the greatest challenge for the Taliban is not the remnants of “renegades” from the ousted President Ashraf Ghani’s regime but the die-hard local off-shoot of the Islamic State (IS) known as the Islamic State Khorasan province ( ISKP).
This local group first incursion into the Taliban arrangement was in 2014 when they accused the Taliban of “hobnobbing” with the West and signing lopsided treaties against their favourable disposition on the long-run.
This lethal local group who had hitherto began to carve out for themselves, the eastern provinces, had so far killed over a hundred people through merciless attacks on mosques ( of mainly Shia minority) and ambush of patrol teams.
The Taliban, who had garnered the support of stronger Nations like Russia and China, didn’t quite expect such resistance from an ultra-extremist group like they are witnessing presently.
This has sent confusion into their camp and has badly exposed their level of preparedness to administratively take over the reins of power from the erstwhile rulers and their American backers.
Iran, another regional power and a next-door neighbour to Afghanistan cannot afford to watch the Taliban losing the battle to a fierce ISKP whose main target is the Shia minority, a people with a kindred spirit with Iran. They may soon join the fray.
It is observable that any nation once “helped” by America almost always turn out not with the lesser crisis but far more than they can contain. The Taliban have a huge task on their hands. And that task is to leverage on the unexpected sudden support of Russia and China, to build a stable nation devoid of fear, violence and trepidation on the part of her citizens.
Let the Taliban supreme commander, Mullah Akhundzada come out from secrecy to embrace the new task of rebuilding the torn nation. Waging asymmetric warfare is a different ball game from real governance.
For a nation where retail sugar is costlier than petrol, the earlier the leadership sits up to embrace reality, the better.
They must never behave like the proverbial dog, who barks and run after a moving car such that when the car stopped, the dog didn’t know what next to do. The poor Afghanistan people sure need their Country.
- Austen AKHAGBEME is a Columnist with Blank NEWS Online
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