Despite the presence of US troops in afghanistan, terrorists continue to deploy Suicide Bombers to kill the innocents. In the latest attack, at least 50 people have been killed in Kabul and Kandahar. ISIS has claimed responsibility for this attack. An earlier attack had killed 60 people at a voter registration center. These attacks are seen as a failure on behalf of security, which is handled jointly by Afghanistan and the United States.
The Guardian reports that this is an example of the ineffectiveness of the existing setup and its inability to bring stability to the country.
The US troops positioned in the country appear to have no clue in terms of how to handle the situation.
Terror groups want control
The Taliban is one of the active terror groups in Afghanistan. It has threatened to unleash more attacks on civilians. According to estimates by the United States, the local forces control less than 60% of the country while the remaining are either contested or are controlled by the insurgents. They do not want democracy and are targeting the machine that is the government -- including journalists with ties to both local and western media.
The attacks are engineered by either the Taliban or ISIS. The recent suicide bomber attacks are believed to have been carried out by ISIS, as claimed by them.
The Taliban conducted two attacks in January. One such attack involved an ambulance full of explosives that was detonated and killed nearly 100. The other was in a luxury hotel in the capital.
What is the solution?
US troops have been in Afghanistan for 16 years and former president Barack Obama had agreed to withdraw US troops from there and leave only essential personnel.
They would train the local forces to make them competent to handle security matters on their own. However, Donald Trump reversed that decision and agreed to deploy an additional 3,000 troops but that has not helped.
Ashraf Ghani, the president of Afghanistan, had offered a plan of peace to the insurgents. His proposal was for an immediate ceasefire and talks, but that did not have the desired result.
There has been an increase in attacks by suicide bombers in high-profile public locations like hotels which has revealed the weakness in the system. Obviously, both the United States and Afghanistan must think outside the box and develop suitable strategies to effectively combat this problem and bring an end to it.
