After months of intense fighting in southern Afghanistan — where hundreds of Taliban fighters have battered Afghan troops in daily attacks — the Special Forces commander of Helmand province is seeking a deal with the insurgents in Sangin district, according to a media report from Lashkar Gah.
“Based on my contacts with Taliban and tribal elders I have already started talks,” Afghan Special Forces commander General Asadullah Shirzad, told journalists but remained economical on details. He however hoped to extend talks across the province once calm had been restored in Sangin.
Taliban spokesman Qari Yousuf Ahmadi denied any negotiations with security forces in Helmand province. The Afghan Taliban has no plan to engage in talks at this stage, he made it clear.
There has been a step-up in Taliban attacks on the security forces. In June alone as many as 800 Taliban fighters had targeted government offices and police outposts in Sangin. Afghan forces say they have killed 400 Taliban across Helmand since then.
Tahir Khan reported in The Express Tribune that the new phenomenon of “Green-on-Blue” attacks has become a cause of concern. It became pronounced after the killing of a top US general inside a military academy in Kabul this month.
Major-General Harold Greene was killed when an Afghan soldier opened fire on foreign forces at the Marshal Fahim Military Academy on August 5. The soldier also wounded 10 US army men, two British soldiers, one German general, one Afghan general and two other officers, sections of the Afghan media reported. The attack was one of the bloodiest “Green-on-Blue” assaults in Afghanistan since the US led Nato forces mounted the war against al Qaeda and Taliban in 2001.
The Afghan Taliban did not claim responsibility for the attack but praised the attackers on foreign and Afghan forces.
“The valiant Afghan soldier has killed Americans and other foreign troops,” Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid said in a statement. He also eulogised the action of the Afghan policemen who killed nearly 11 colleagues in three different attacks.
When Taliban launched their “Spring Offensive” this year, they also said “insider attacks” would be part of the operation codenamed “Khaiber”.
“Back-breaking martyrdom strikes, infiltrator operations (insider attacks), targeting large and well-fortified enemy bases with heavy weapons and missiles as well as carrying out head-on offensive operations against enemy gatherings shall be some of the main techniques used in these spring operations,” the Taliban spokesperson had stated at the launch of the offensive, according to Tahir Khan.
He goes on to quote a Taliban leader as saying the group’s commission is vigorously working on a plan to “invite and absorb” security personnel and government officials at a time when foreign troops have just a few more months in Afghanistan. The dispatch did not identify the Taliban commander but said he had claimed that “many Afghans in the government and security forces” were in contact with the Taliban.
One thing is clear as of now. The “insider” attacks, unless checked, will have a bearing on peace in Afghanistan in the post-withdrawal period.
-RAM SINGH KALCHURI
