For signing the security agreement, one of the conditions of the former president was the immediate ban on military operations of the foreign troops on Afghan civilians. But when this agreement was signed by the government led by Ashraf Ghani Ahmadzai with all haste and not taking into consideration the recommendations of the both former president and the Consultative Loya Jirga, those Afghan who were hopeful to this agreement became distressed.
After a short time of signing the security agreements with US and NATO, in Gardez, the provincial capital of Paktia, without any coordination with local officials, nine civilians were killed including a child in US air strikes. The local people and the officials unanimously identified the killed individuals as civilians. The local people brought their bodies as a protest in front of the Pakita’s governor house and demanded a justification from the Afghan government. In another incident, four people were killed while working on a bridge in a US drone attack in the Alishang district of Laghman province and a civilian was also killed in a similar attack in Nangrahar province.
But surprisingly, in recent days, Afghan forces endured heavy causalities in Sari pul province and called for air support from the foreign troops, but foreign troops declined their request. In the result 22 Afghan troops were killed, 17 injured and another 6 were taken alive by the Taliban with them.
The Message of Air of Strike on Civilians
US military use such of kind of strikes as a tool to accomplish its objectives and these strikes cannot be dealt with as simple as an excused for a military error or the dead civilians could be identified as insurgents.
Whenever innocent civilians are killed in air strikes, the matter is contained by condemning or classifying it as a mistake. Even sometimes for such crimes there is not a simply apology and the dead are identified as insurgents. In addition, many times the foreign troops have attacked Afghan forces from the air and later on admitted it as a mistake, which beside fatal causalities is a huge insult to Afghan forces too.
The reason while civilians are killed in military operations is obvious but attacking residential places and killing civilians without any specific military objectives, signals other messages. When the new government is a week or so old, the signature of the agreements with US and NATO is still fresh, such attacks and strikes of the US forces indicate that such agreements cannot limit and control the their operations and they can do whatever they want.
Those involved in war in Afghanistan and examining their strategies, it seems like the previous 13 years, where the foreign troops would kill hundreds of civilians in their military operations, will continue so in the future by killing innocent people as long as they are in stationed in Afghanistan.
In the last 13 years, now it’s a normal pattern that civilians are killed in foreign forces air strikes and mass murder, which some analysts consider it as intentional and the aim is to bring distance between the Afghan government and its people. Even though the new government has promised reforms, but if such blind air strikes and attacks continue in the future, slowly but surely Afghans would resistant and turn on on their government. Because in the past thanks to such air strikes and military mistakes by the foreign forces, the lines of the opponents of the government got strengthened.
But overall, like they were in the past 13 years, Afghans will be the victims of such game in the future too, which is run by the foreign intelligence agencies to reach to its political goals and the Western media and its affiliates inside Afghanistan to portray a different and bias picture of what’s going on here. By analyzing the stances and strategies of the foreign forces in Afghanistan, US and NATO do not try to bring peace but to alter the shape of the conflict. These Forces will be inside their bases, but Afghans will never be safe from their target killings and from time to time they will use it as tool to reach to its goals.
The Continuum of Pakistan’s rocket shelling
On one side, if Afghans are killed by mines and other attacks, and foreign Forces intentional air strikes, however on the other side, for some years now Pakistan has been bombarding Afghans with rockets, which have left behind financial and human causalities in Kunar and Nuristan provinces.
The former government did so much as to condemn these attacks, but many Afghans are hopeful that the new government and its security agreement with the US would protect the territorial integrity and block any foreign attack on Afghanistan.
Members of the Upper House of the parliament expressed their concerns over the failure of the US by not taking any action to stop the hundreds of Pakistani army’s rockets that are shelled on the Afghan soil and they blamed the security agreement for the deteriorating security situation in the country. According to them, if this agreement cannot bring security then for what good it is for the Afghans?
Many Afghans applauded the signing of the security agreement because they thought it would prevent neighboring countries interference and military attack, but almost at the same time of the signature of the security agreement, rocket shelling of Pakistani army on the Eastern regions even further intensified. Just in one day, 75 rockets were shelled on different parts of Kunar province. Is this rocket shelling not a foreign attack?
In actuality, US and NATO do not have any strategy for peace and stability in Afghanistan and turn a blind eye on Pakistan’s apparent attack on Afghan soil and even support Pakistan, which shows that US and Pakistan want to further and deepen the conflict in Afghanistan. On the other hand, US with the help of Pakistan and its strategic partners in region wants to keep its imperialistic plans intact by pursuing the War on Terror strategy and compelling Afghans to its demands. The goal of the US is to pursue modern colonialism through hard power in the region.
Position of the New Government
While President Ashraf Ghani after his inauguration ceremony embarked on with all seriousness with some reforms and signed the security agreement with the US, Afghans became hopeful that the new government would have clear position on some important issues with foreign troops. However, with intensified rocket shelling from Pakistan, the killings of civilians in US air strikes, which included Afghan officials identified as civilians and where there was no movement of arm resistance, the president showed no reaction, clearly shows that the new government would have weaker position than the former one.
According to some analysts, the in security agreement, given that the interferences of neighboring countries and foreign invasion, the promises of the US is not mandatory and in addition according to the second article of this agreement, US forces can maintain its military operations and the Afghan side cannot exert any force to compel the US to do otherwise, could be the reason why the new Afghan government cannot enforce its views on the US, thus has been quite.
Now one should ask those who signed this agreement and those who justified this agreement on the grounds that it would prevent the attacks from neighboring countries, that why can’t this agreement keep safe Afghanistan from the rocket shelling from Pakistan? But then it’s clear that the US has no intention to protect Afghans neither it has any strategic value to them. US signed the agreement only to guard its strategic goals and acts only on those parts of the agreement which serves them well.
Even if Afghan government demands any action from the US, it simply declines the request and does not show any reaction toward Pakistan. In the case of any violation, the Afghan government cannot take US to any national or international court, a third party or an international institution and neither Afghan government can dissolve the agreement. Because in case one party wants to dissolve the agreement should notify the other party in two year time prior to the nullifying. So in such case, Afghan government cannot enforce its demands on the US and will never be safe from the interferences of its neighboring countries.
The End