Kochi: The US-led forces are watching helplessly the onslaught of Taliban in Afghanistan where the US allies made a failed bid to uproot the hardcore Islamic radical forces. The US and its allies sunk trillions of dollars servicing their forces to sustain their two- decades-old operations in Afghanistan as retribution to the Islamic radicals targeting the US and some of its allies on September 11, 2001.
Two thousand members of the allies were killed while about one lakh civilians lost their lives
in the operations. Trusting the US, several countries including India participated in building infrastructure in Afghanistan. Now, all are running for their lives. The President has escaped to safety while the US and others are busy evacuating its citizens.
Interestingly, the Talibans were so fast in taking control of Afghanistan that even the US could not estimate. The US intelligence was that it would take six months to one year for Taliban to take control. Media reports quoting the Taliban stated that the Taliban will hold parleys in the coming days to form an inclusive government under Sharia laws in Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan.
Commercial flights operations were affected due to gunfire at the Kabul airport, reports said.
The U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken has rejected comparisons to the U.S. pullout from Vietnam. The American ambassador was among those evacuated, officials said. Messages circulated on social media advising people to stay inside locked homes.
The U.S. has been preparing to quit Afghanistan culminating in the deal signed by previous president Donald Trump with the Taliban in February 2020.
The US announced its plans to leave by the end of this month. There is no plan visible on the transfer of power. Former president Hamid Karzai, leader of Hizb-e-Islami political and paramilitary group Gulbudin Hekmatyar, are among those dealing from the government side.
Contradictory to the Taliban’s assurance of ensuring peace for the public, there were reports of revenge killings in recent days.
The US is paying for their deeds as they were the ones who sponsored Taliban by providing them with huge financial and military aid in the late seventies to fight the erstwhile communist USSR.
