Roving Periscope: Despite Taliban claims, govt formation still a far cry

Virendra Pandit

New Delhi: Amid conflicting claims of a Taliban ‘victory’ over the remaining Northern Afghanistan provinces, the Islamist militia announced on Monday that it would form a government in Kabul in “the next few days”.

The Taliban spokesperson Zabiullah Mujahid said that the “war in Afghanistan is over” and the new government will be formed in the next few days.

“The war is over, now we will work together to rebuild this country,” he said at a press conference in Kabul, according to TOLO News. “A new government will be announced in the next few days,” he added.

The hegemony of the Taliban, which is governed chiefly by the Pashtun leaders—the Pashtuns constitute nearly 45 percent population of Afghanistan—is being challenged by others, mainly Tajiks (27%), Hazaras, and Uzbeks (9% each), who revived the older Northern Alliance under a new nomenclature, National Resistance Front of Afghanistan (NRFA), with Ahmad Massoud, son of the late Ahmed Shah Massoud, as its leader.

While the US and its allies have virtually given a ‘free hand’ to the Taliban, China and Pakistan are said to be pulling strings to keep the Taliban under control by pushing it to form a ‘consensus government’, including non-Pashtun leaders as well in the forthcoming regime. This has delayed government formation.

Early on Monday, the Taliban had announced that Panjshir, the last Afghan province, and stronghold of the Massoud supporters, had fallen under the control of the Islamic militia. But, the NRFA rejected the claim, saying their leader Ahmad Massoud will soon make a statement. Reports also claimed that Massoud had fallen in line with the Taliban.

Mujahid informed that technical teams from Qatar and the UAE are working to restart operations at Kabul airport. “People should know that the ‘invaders’ will never reconstruct our country and it is the responsibility of our people to do it themselves.”

Asked about China’s role in the reconstruction of the war-torn country, he said the Taliban wants good relations with the world, China is a big economic power and is very important for the country, and Kabul needs its support for reconstruction and development.

Last week, Pakistan intelligence chief Faiz Hameed was reported in the Pakistani media to have rushed to Kabul in the wake of an evolving internal crisis in the Taliban after reports of a clash between its factions in which the militia co-founder Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar suffered injuries. Ghani is expected to be appointed the next President of Afghanistan.

But Mujahid spilled the beans.

The Pakistani spy chief was worried about the release of the nearly 2,500 members of the Teherik-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) from Afghanistan prisons in the last couple of weeks. Islamabad is panicked they could resume terror attacks inside Pakistan, particularly in the sensitive Pashtun-dominated areas of the Northwest and Baluchistan from where the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) passes.

According to the Taliban spokesman, “Pakistan repeatedly asked to visit Kabul and we recently agreed. They are worried about the release of prisoners, those who belong to Pakistan and want to carry out attacks in Pakistan. We assured them that no one will be allowed to threaten any country from Afghanistan.”

The Taliban, which re-captured Kabul on August 15, has been delaying the announcement of the government formation in Afghanistan over the past few days.

While the militia has not issued an official statement yet, reports claimed that the government formation has been delayed due to differences between the Taliban and the Haqqani Network over power-sharing.