The Taliban Today – Where Does The Terror End?

November 13, 2001, the date the Taliban forces abandoned Kabul, having controlled the capital city since 1996. The Taliban’s decision to shelter Osama bin Laden in the wake of the September 11 attacks resulted in the US-led Northern Alliance entering Afghanistan in order to push them from power. That was not the end of the story, though, as losing control has not meant the Taliban rescinded into a benign group.

The final weeks of January have shown the world that the Taliban is still a terrifying force at large in Afghanistan. On 20 January, gunmen carried out a violent siege at the Intercontinental Hotel in Kabul, killing at least 40 people and leaving more than 22 others seriously injured. Only a week later, Kabul saw more bloodshed at the hands of the Taliban. On 27 January, attackers packed an ambulance with explosives that were then detonated in the middle of a busy street. This attack resulted in 103 people dead and 235 wounded. The level of danger ordinary Afghans face in their day-to-day lives appear worryingly high, with 8,500 civilians killed or injured in the first three-quarters of 2017. These statistics were recorded by the UN, and the total figures have yet to be released.

For anyone watching the region, these attacks should not come as a surprise. New York Times editor The BBC recently conducted a study to investigate the current position of the Taliban in Afghanistan. They found that 70% of Afghanistan, the equivalent of 15 million people, has open and active Taliban presence, a significant increase since foreign combat troops left in 2014. This figure includes 14 districts, 4% of the country, which is under full control of the Taliban.

The Taliban emerged in Afghanistan in 1994. In the wake of the Soviets withdrawal at the end of the Soviet-Afghan war, the nation’s warlords descended into a civil war that came to a close with the Taliban’s conquest of Kabul. A predominantly Pashtun movement, the group is characterized by its hardline Islamic views. While in power they introduced strict Sharia law, meaning public executions (for murderers and adulterers alike) and women’s exclusion from public life. Men were to grow beards and women to wear the burka, while television, music, and cinema were all banned.

Since 2001, The United States has maintained a committed role in Afghanistan despite foreign combat operations ceasing. Under the Trump administration, there appears to be a rising focus on increasing America’s military presence, recently committing an additional 3,000 troops and bringing the total number 14,000. Although actual promises have been vague, Trump has made it clear he intends to increase engagement in Afghanistan. In August last year, he has expressed his intention to keep American troops on the ground and stated, “We are not nation building again. We are killing terrorists.”

While these recent deaths are at the hands of Taliban militants, some have argued America’s current policy is only fueling the indiscriminate violence. In particular, New York Times editor Max Fisher argued that “because both sides treated Afghanistan’s governance as a matter of all-or-nothing survival, the Taliban had every incentive to create chaos.” According to Fisher, the escalation of military force has only encouraged the Taliban to opt for “grislier violence.” Airstrikes prove capable of limiting attacks in rural areas, but leaves open the option of urban attacks, like those seen in Kabul. “Weakening the Taliban’s ability to act as a traditional insurgency that holds territory, though logical, also compels them to prioritize their role as a terrorist group.”

America is exploring options other than traditional force. Trump announced early this year it would suspend security aid to Pakistan due to their sheltering of Taliban members. The freeze would affect as much as 1.3 million dollars of aid, though would not touch civilian programs. However, this tactic was tried under the Obama administration with little success. $800 million worth of aid was suspended in 2011, and a relationship between the US and Pakistan saw no real improvements as a result.

If force is not working, the logical alternative is diplomatic. Former Taliban ambassador to Pakistan, Mullah Abdul Salam Zaeef, said there would be no solution to the Afghan war unless talks take place with the Taliban. Some nations are willing to take this route, a Taliban delegation traveling to Islamabad this month to meet with representatives from nations including China. For many, there remains incredible unease with potentially compromising with a group that has threatened and violated numerous human rights. Trump made an announcement in January that the United States government would not negotiate with the Taliban. A similar tactic has been taken by the Afghanistan government. Maulavi Shafiullah Nuristani, a member of the government body in charge of exploring negotiations, claims, “There has not been any channel of talks ongoing between the High Peace Council and the Taliban. We never had any direct contracts with them except for indirect and personal contacts.” Yet while there may be very legitimate arguments against not conducting peace talks, continuing on the same path seems to make little sense either. Peter Galbraith, a former UN Deputy Special Representative for Afghanistan, told Al Jazeera, “The first step towards a solution is to recognize that the strategy pursued so far hasn’t worked. The US and its NATO allies are reluctant to recognize the truth in part because they have invested so much in a failed strategy.”

According to Zaeef, “The more [the US] insist on staying in Afghanistan to fight the Taliban, the more innocent people will die. This is a reoccurring mistake, and something should be learned from it.” After seeing the horrors the Taliban committed, both while in power and in later guerilla attacks, it may be morally hard to accept the idea of negotiating with them. Regardless of that, Zaeef is right. The Past is meant for us to learn from, and nothing is to be gained from repeating the same tactic over and over. If America is to continue its involvement, they need to consider what would be the most constructive way forward. People are dying on the streets of Afghanistan, and it is doubtful whether increased Americans will actually change this. Negotiations are not the same as capitulating to the Taliban’s whims. The possibility of a peaceful solution should not be discounted before it has even been attempted.

Related