By Ahmad Shah Katawazai
In Afghanistan’s Faryab province, protesters stormed the national tidings agency’s offices inwards the metropolis of Maimana, looted the provincial governor’s compound, together with burned several vehicles. The protests happened subsequently the arrest of a powerful warlord together with commander, Nezamuddin Qaisari, who is loyal to Vice President Abdul Rashid Dostum. Qaisari was arrested subsequently he allegedly threatened to kill people at a provincial safety meeting. Qaisari is the provincial representative of beau ethnic Uzbeks. He is closely affiliated with Dostum, who fled to Turkey concluding twelvemonth subsequently he was defendant of existence involved inwards the rape together with torture of a political rival. Dostum warned the removal of Qaisari could worsen insecurity inwards Faryab, where authorities forces are fighting the Taliban together with Islamic State-Khorasan Province (ISKP). Ethnic warlords together with strongmen are the production of the concluding iv decades of state of war together with i of the worst legacies of the United States’ long state of war inwards Afghanistan. These figures rest a potent challenge for the key government. After the Soviet draw ended, a grouping of strongmen together with warlords with personal militias stepped into the vacuum, gaining immense influence together with power. The warlords created individual militias together with pick out been involved inwards heinous crimes together with human rights violations e'er since. Using authorities resources together with positions, they pick out been ruling with impunity for decades.
Warlords rest a barrier Afghanistan’s fledgling republic together with accountability, blocking a novel generation from leading the Blue Planet toward progress together with development. They are responsible for killings, beatings, abductions, extortion, Blue Planet seizures, illegal mining, drug trafficking, together with inwards some cases joining hands with the Taliban where in that place is mutual interest. In short, these warlords pick out teach a major employment for the country.
The ascent together with endurance of the warlords is a legacy of the U.S. state of war inwards Afghanistan. The bulk of the electrical current warlords gained prominence inwards slowly 2001 patch fighting against the Taliban regime. With the U.S.-supplied funds together with weapons, coupled with the collapse of the Taliban regime, these warlords were able to command together with influence the nation’s safety forces together with authorities ministries.
The authorities provided them with influential positions together with they got subcontracts from U.S. companies. Many received funds from the US together with Western countries to locomote with U.S. together with NATO forces to struggle against the Taliban together with al-Qaeda, farther increasing their influence inwards Afghan politics. Thus, with American taxation payer’s coin together with a weak Afghan key government’s blessing, the warlords thrived.
They largely used their official positions to cement their ain ascendence inwards their respective territories together with pick out enriched themselves through illegal money. From ministerial posts to civilian positions, from the safety sector to lucrative customs, they pick out influence everywhere.
This is a large hurdle facing the Western-educated technocrats swell to transform Transitional Islamic State of Afghanistan from a traditional conservative social club into a modern together with progressive era.
President Ashraf Ghani, a U.S.-educated one-time World Bank official, is widely seen equally committed to altering old notion of power. He has been able to either give the sack or marginalize some of the powerful warlords, such those inwards Faryab, Uruzgan, Farah, together with Badakhshan. However, whenever in that place has been a crackdown or an attempt to marginalize warlords, they pick out issued warnings of havoc together with civil war.
Bizarrely, many of the nearly prominent warlords occupy locomote past times positions inwards the authorities together with at the same fourth dimension locomote against the government. Some pick out held or dice along to concur high-level positions: vice president, ministerial positions, or governors of of import provinces. They serve both inwards the authorities together with inwards an opposition purpose at the same time, hence bringing the legitimacy of the authorities nether question. Stirring ethnic together with linguistic hate amid social club together with playing the blame game has teach a mutual exercise for them to rest inwards power.
For instance, Mohamad Mohaqeq, 2nd vice president together with warlord, threatened the key authorities when i of his introduced ministers, Razaq Wahidi, was tried this calendar week for alleged corruption. He defendant the authorities of favoring ex-Finance Minister Eklil Hakimi, who resigned from his position together with was appointed equally an adviser to the president inwards international affairs.
Hakimi, a one-time ambassador to the United States, China, together with Nippon was considered a key interlocutor with Western partners who succeeded inwards bringing to a greater extent than donor assistance to the country. Hakimi, earlier his resignation, was i of the nearly trusted ministers of Ghani’s cabinet. Similarly, 3 weeks back, Minister of Urban Development together with Housing Syed Mansoor Naderi, some other Western-oriented liberal technocrat, had resigned, together with Ali Ahmad Osmani, the government minister of liberate energy together with H2O was fired past times Ghani.
In improver to the complexity of war, Transitional Islamic State of Afghanistan politics remains real complicated. The authorities is non alone fighting against ISKP, the Taliban, together with unopen to xx regional together with global terrorist groups, it has to bargain with regional strongmen together with warlord who are simply equally much of a threat equally the Taliban are. Warlords together with strongmen with armed militias are a serious threat to the country’s stability together with pick out to survive marginalized inwards monastic say to motion the acre into a novel era of democracy. Without robust progress inwards governance, together with strengthening democratic institutions, the safety gains made so far together with momentum against ISKP together with Taliban insurgents volition survive lost.
Afghanistan is inwards demand of vast sum of Western diplomatic working capital missive of the alphabet to rein inwards the warlords. They rest non alone a employment for Afghanistan’s relatively novel democratic organisation but likewise a national safety threat.
Ahmad Shah Katawazai is an Afghan diplomat with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs together with a national safety expert. Katawazai is a published author equally good equally a Johns Hopkins University together with American University Alumni. The views expressed are his own. Follow him on Twitter at @askatawazai
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