The Newest Wave of Taliban Attacks in Northern Afghanistan

On September 10, the Taliban carried out multiple attacks in Northern Afghanistan, killing at least 52 Afghan security forces. As the latest violence to plague the country, the Taliban attacked police checkpoints in four northern provinces: Kunduz, Jawzjan, Samangan, and Sari Pul. Although United States officials have been meeting directly with Taliban leaders the past couple months for peace negotiations, attacks have only been becoming bigger and more frequent. The Taliban currently control the most Afghan territory than any other point since the 2001 US invasion.

According to a BBC study, the Taliban threaten 70% of Afghanistan. The recent series of attacks is part of a shift towards directing attacks on Afghan military bases and checkpoints. The Afghan National Security Forces (ANSF) have been suffering heavy losses in their struggle to hold off Taliban insurgents. In the attacks on security checkpoints in Kunduz, Samangan and Sari Pul, provincial police chiefs and spokesmen reported deaths on Afghan security forces and other pro-government militia.

In the Jawzjan province, the Taliban attacked the Khamyab district. Afghan forces had to withdraw from the area because “there was intense fighting and we didn’t want civilian houses destroyed, or any civilian casualties,” said Provincial Police Chief Gen. Faqir Mohammad Jawzjani. This led to Khamyab being the latest district to fall to Taliban control. The Taliban insurgents also gained ground in Sari Pul, where, as stated by police spokesman Sayed Sarwar Hussaini, “reinforcements were on their way to the area when they came under Taliban ambush, and security forces abandoned their base when they did not receive reinforcements.”

The new US strategy in Afghanistan that began in 2017 included a dramatic increase in airstrikes and has been criticized for causing an unprecedented level of civilian casualties, so the decision in Jawzjan to withdraw in order to prevent unnecessary casualties is commendable. The increased attacks from the Taliban suggests a need for more Afghan reinforcements and retaliation, but after 17 years of fighting, it’s clear that military action alone won’t solve anything. While it is necessary to engage the Taliban when they carry out attacks, to actually reach a conclusion to this conflict the focus needs to be on working towards a peace negotiation.

An opportunity for peace talks occurred during an unprecedented three-day ceasefire in June in observance of Eid, followed by a meeting between the Taliban and US officials. However, Taliban leaders were angered by images of Taliban and Afghan soldiers getting along during the ceasefire, responding with an increase in attacks. A few days before the attacks in the northern provinces, there were additional Taliban raids on district centers and a suicide bomber attack at a rally in Kabul where people were mourning the anniversary of the death of an anti-Taliban leader. Also, a BBC report suggested that the increase in Taliban attacks could be because of upcoming peace talks and that the Taliban want to be able to come to the negotiations with the most leverage and power possible.

The recent Taliban attacks in Northern Afghanistan are evidence that the war going on for 17 years has not slowed down. Attempts to solve this conflict with military force have not been successful and the Taliban are still as strong as ever. Negotiations between both sides are needed to determine the future of the country. One challenge to peace talks is that there are so many outside actors involved in this conflict, from the United States to Russia and China and many more. Barnett Rubin, a former senior advisor for the US Department of State and leading expert on Afghanistan and South Asia, has written that “the main players in the conflict have seen hardly any possibility of joint gains from peace…because each actor tends to believe that its adversaries have no feasible proposal and are using talks to buy time.” Rubin suggests that the different actors need to develop a sense of trust and be willing to compromise in their negotiations, but also that infrastructure investment and connectivity projects would make Afghanistan more economically independent and could be a way to push the country in a more peaceful direction.

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