Qatar- Defeating Taliban

11/25/2015 5:08:29 AM

(MENAFN- The Peninsula) The government of Ashraf Ghani should learn the right lessons from their Kunduz failure and adopt measures to avoid a repetition of the situation.

An official Afghan inquiry has concluded that leadership failure and confusion among Afghan security forces are to blame for the temporary capture of northern city of Kunduz by the Taliban in September this year. The Kunduz fall which was the first time the Taliban took control of a major city since being toppled from power in 2001 was a major blow to the Afghan government led by President Ashraf Ghani who was elected on a promise to bring peace to the country after decades of war and also to the western-trained Afghan forces who have been left to fight the Taliban on their own after the exit of Nato and US troops.

Amrullah Saleh one of two heads of the Afghan fact-finding commission appointed by Ghani said that the first biggest failure was leadership. Weakness in leadership complexity within structure and misuse of facilities and resources were the factors that allowed the Taliban to overrun the city he said. The Taliban were also able to expand their gains after seizing the city. They managed to seize 37 armoured vehicles and about 1000 different types of weapons from the security forces once they entered Kunduz.

The report states the obvious. Any failure in fighting is a result of a lack of leadership and it’s especially true in the case of Afghan forces which have often withered under the onslaught of the Taliban. Years of training for Afghan forces at the hands of Nato couldn’t stop Taliban from capturing Kunduz. The extremists have always proven very formidable which is surprising considering that Afghan forces have access to the most advanced training and the most sophisticated weapons.

The government of Ashraf Ghani should learn the right lessons from their Kunduz experience and adopt measures to avoid a repetition of the situation. There is nothing unfair in war and love and Ghani should go to any length to defeat the extremists. The fight must be multi-pronged: he must use military diplomatic tribal and every other method to weaken the enemy. Time is precious because the Taliban are fast making inroads into their previous strongholds. Also the government is getting support from certain quarters in its fight. For example former warlord General Abdul Rashid Dostum is galvanising his followers and former foes for battle with Taliban because the militant group is expanding into his territory. In a desperate effort to defend his home territory he is activating private anti-Taliban militias in a risky gambit now commonplace across the embattled north. Afghan forces must support the warlord and the experiment needs to be expanded into other areas.

As the world struggles with terrorism winning the fight against the Taliban is not an option but a necessity.

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