This week terrorists proved that they are far from done wreaking havoc in Afghanistan and South Asia. The feeble Taliban-Haqqani regime that sits in Kabul has been powerless to stop terrorists, and often are still committing terrorism themselves. Between the terrorist groups causing deaths, and the Taliban-Haqqani regime abducting, torturing, and murdering citizens, Afghans have nowhere to turn.
Pakistan arial bombing
This week included a Pakistan arial bombing of what they called terrorists in Afghan sovereign territory. The result of the bombing in the two provinces of Khost and Kunar are estimated to have left over 45 Afghans dead, including women and children. Pakistan says their airstrikes were aimed at a terrorist insurgent group that stands against Pakistan’s government and is seeking shelter in Afghanistan. That is a familiar story, but the tables are now turned. The Taliban regime in Kabul has been very quiet about the Pakistani attack on Afghans, and many Afghans believe that is due to the support that Pakistan gives to the Taliban-Haqqani terrorists.
In northern Afghanistan IS-K claims to have been behind the rocket attack from inside Afghanistan that targeted Uzbekistan. According to VOA the “Islamic State Khorasan Province fired 10 rockets at an Uzbek military base in the border town of Termez.” Again, the regime in Kabul has been very quiet about this brazen attack on a neighbor. The Taliban-Haqqani leaders have been trying to convince the world that they will not allow terrorists to attack globally from Afghanistan. After recent IS-K and TTP attacks in Pakistan, this event only underscores the inability, or unwillingness of the Taliban-Haqqani regime to stop terrorism.
School children Attacked in Kabul
In another horrific act this week Hazara schoolchildren were attacked in multiple locations in Kabul. Reports are still coming in on this vicious terrorist strike, but estimates range from 20 to over 100 children and adults being gruesomely murdered. Some Afghans think this may be an attack by Taliban-Haqqani terrorists themselves, as schools and Afghans of Hazara ancestry are often targets of their attacks. Reports are also circulating that the Taliban “security forces” that showed up at the scenes stopped volunteers from saving lives and attacked journalists to hide the level of carnage. Some even say they stopped blood donations in some areas, as Afghans were trying to help survivors.
One Afghan source told me this was the Taliban taking revenge on co-religionists in Iran, for Iran snubbing the Taliban over their embassy representation in Tehran. The Taliban eventually threw the mangled bodies of the children into a large storage container and drove it to a site for relatives to sort through seeking answers about their loved ones. The Afghans of Hazara ancestry are hated by most terrorists in Afghanistan due to their predominant religious belief. While some argue that the Hazara are victims of a decade’s long genocide, there is no doubt that the Hazara are not going to be safe under tis regime.
Women, Journalists, and Former Afghan Security Targeted
As with every week since August of 2021, journalists, women, and former Afghan security members were also targeted for retribution and death this week. International actors in Afghanistan seem to be coming up short on solutions to the rise in terrorism. Many are advising the world to increase their efforts to close down the terrorism factory in Pakistan to start making a dent. It still remains unclear if any diplomat or nation is willing to wade into the issues of Pakistan radicalism centers to bring peace to Afghans.
