Kabul attack shocking, tragic

The latest news from Afghanistan, where the world powers rejoiced over uprooting terrorism and restoring peace, is horrifying.

A powerful truck bomb blast on Wednesday morning in the heart of capital city of Kabul killed over ninety people and injured more than 400. The explosion that stunned the world occurred in a diplomatic quarter that was until now deemed a highly secure zone where different foreign embassies, television stations and star hotels are located, an area which the terrorists were believed to least likely intrude. According to the reports, majority of those killed were civilians including women and children. Foreign embassy officials and journalists have lost their lives or have been wounded. Although the blast occurred 100 metres away from the Indian embassy, Minister of External Affairs Sushma Swaraj revealed that no considerable damages to life and property took place. The massive explosion is believed to have caused by a sewage tanker laden with explosives. So far, no organization has claimed responsibility of the attack. The Taliban leadership have sharply condemned the attack. So have the different administrations including the Afghan government that strongly denounced the heinous attack planned in the holy month of Ramadan. The ISIS that have been strengthening their foothold in Afghanistan recently, is believed to be behind the blast.

The tragic history of Afghanistan in the recent past is a creation of global powers. The US had led a military invasion in Afghanistan alleging Osama Bin Laden and Al Qaeda to be behind the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks and demanding the Taliban to hand over Osama Bin Laden. Mullah Omar and the Taliban government led by his supporters were reluctant citing which a heavily destructive war was unleashed. The NATO forces through a military offensive spanning a decade wrecked Afghanistan with all its might. No credible data regarding the number of people killed in the war that took place using the latest weaponries or the percentage of the populace that have been deprived of their homes and displaced as refugees have been obtained so far. In short, the historical city was destroyed in a way it could never reclaim its lost glory. Even after Osama and Mullah Omar were killed by the forces, terrorism refused to see an end. When the death bodies of army men flowed on end, into the country, initially Britain and then the US was later seen declaring the goals in Afghanistan to be successfully accomplished and withdrawing the army, conveniently skirting the issue. Not only were any productive efforts made to give back power to the people or bolster the democracy, but no tolerance was displayed in appointing puppet governments that would dance to the their tunes.

That was how Hamid Karzai and Ashraf Ghani was elected in Kabul starting from 2004 until 2014. Other than the fact that they enjoyed top positions in Western companies, they hadn’t before, proved their political foresight or governing skills. According to a 2015 study, Kabul is the most dangerous city in the world. And a latest report says that about 30 per cent of the country is under the Taliban. It might be this reality that might have forced the world powers to even contemplate about sharing power after peace talks with a country they fought against, for more than a decade. A section of the Taliban that adopted the terrorist means of ISIS becoming active lately is being cited as the reason for the escalating bomb blasts and massacres in Afghanistan. The tragic incident on Wednesday indicates that the country that has been grappling unrest for more than half a century, will not be able to make its way out from the crisis too soon.