US, NATO allies back to square one in Afghanistan after the Taliban's takeover: IFFRAS

As the United States ended its 20-year-long mission in Kabul, the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO) is back to square one in Afghanistan, reported International Forum for Rights and Security (IFFRAS) on Wednesday. It said that in an attempt to overthrow the Taliban, the US and its NATO allies raided Afghanistan in 2001, spent billion since then but the end result shows the Taliban forming what could be termed as "Islamic Emirate" in the war-torn country. The IFFRAS said that this unending conflict left the Taliban relentless and did not harm them much because of constant support from Pakistan for more than 20 years. It should be noted here that the US and its allies never fully accepted terrorist groups like the Haqqani Network, Quetta Shura, and the Al Qaeda leadership harboured by Pakistan.

It is an existential question for NATO to determine whether this long exercise worth billions of dollars was actually fruitful, reported IFFRAS. The report further claimed that with the Taliban at the helm, it will be easy for terrorist groups like the LeT and JeM to build their bases once again in Afghanistan as they are reportedly looking to shift from Pakistan to avoid the FATF blacklist. From 2010 to 2012, when the US had more than 1,00,000 soldiers in Afghanistan, the expenses of war increased to nearly USD 100 billion a year, IFFRAS reported citing US government figures. Over the long progression of the crisis, the United Kingdom and Germany had also sent their troops to Afghanistan, spending USD 30 billion and USD billion respectively, it reported. Meanwhile, in a report submitted to the US Congress in October 2020, the watchdog responsible for oversight affairs in Afghanistan claimed that about USD 19 million vanished because of corruption, deception and mishandling of accounts between May 2009 and December 2019, informed IFFRAS.  

US, NATO countries lost thousands of lives in Afghanistan

It should be noted here that apart from trillions of US dollars that continue as a liability, the US and other NATO countries have lost thousands of lives in Afghanistan over the last 20 years. Last month, at least 13 US soldiers were also killed in the Kabul blast when they were involved in assisting a chaotic evacuation of Americans and Afghans after the Taliban's stunning takeover on August 15. Out of 13 fallen soldiers, 11 were Marines, one was an Army soldier and one a Navy corpsman. Meanwhile, Mullah Mohammad Hasan Akhund, the chief of the Taliban's powerful decision-making body, has been appointed as Afghanistan's new head, PTI reported on Tuesday, citing a Pakistani media report. Meanwhile, Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar, Chairman of Taliban's Political Office in Doha, and Mullah Abdus Salam are expected to be Akhund's deputies, The News International reported, citing multiple sources. 

(With agency inputs)

(Image Credits: AP)