Alwaght | News & Analysis Website

Alwaght- A while ago, 250 terrorists in black clothes carried out an attack on Badakhshan province and killed some security forces. They seized more than twenty Afghan police stations. In addition, there has recently been some clashes between insurgents and security forces in different parts of Kunduz province which led to displacement of more than ten thousand families. As Abdul Rahoof Ebrahimi, head of the Afghan parliament said, the northern Afghanistan is as insecure as Pakistan North Waziristan. Meanwhile, apart from the Taliban spring offensives in Afghanistan, the provinces in North and North East have experienced much stronger presence of foreign fighters compared to last years. As in Badakhshan, thousands of Chechen, Uzbek, Tajik and local Taliban fighters have established bases, and in other northern provinces of Afghanistan, especially Faryab, Sar-e Pol, Kunduz, Jawzjan, and Samangan, some important parts were on the verge of being taken over. This article deals with the causes of current insecurities in northern Afghanistan.

Taliban spring offensive

Over the past decades, Taliban insurgents have always adopted different methods and means to extend the battlefield from mainly southern and eastern provinces into other provinces. Secure provinces of the north, central and west Afghanistan seemed suitable for the purposes of the Taliban.

The presence of foreign extremist groups

Northern Afghanistan bordering Central Asia mainly includes six provinces of Badakhshan, Takhar, Kunduz, Balkh, Jowzjan, Faryab, and Badghis. Compared to other provinces, these provinces generally enjoyed higher relative security. However, in recent months there has been an increased insecurity. It is noteworthy that some foreign groups are involved in the spread of insecurity in northern Afghanistan. In addition, the dissident groups, and some countries in the region make attempts to disturb the security of the areas. Previously, there were some concerns for insecurity in the South and East of Afghanistan, but it appears that the insecurity is just spreading over northern Afghanistan. This occurs due to direct and indirect causes. This is partially due to Pakistan’s military operations in Waziristan which have forced foreign insurgents such as Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), "Lashkar-e Taiba" and "Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan" flee to Afghanistan, and move from Zabul to Badakhshan and try to get to the north. As groups like Tehreek-e-Islami Uzbekistan, Chechen fighters, Arab and Tajik terrorist groups, and even some European and American fundamentalists are found in the region. As a result of extensive Pakistani military operations in North Waziristan, a large number of Extremist groups have fled to Central Asian countries and have deployed in northern Afghanistan. From this perspective, even ISIS-related forces have arrived in the northern provinces of Faryab, Jawzjan, Sar-e Pol, and Badakhshan. Atta Mohammad Noor, Balkh governor and chief executive of the Jamiat-e Islami Party, reported that currently hundreds of multinational Asian fighters and families live in Badakhshan and other northern regions of Afghanistan. Given the proximity of northern Afghanistan to the Central Asian countries, insecurity in northern Afghanistan is due to a broad range of strategies of the West and the United States against Russia. In other words, resorting to ISIS and other Extremist groups, the Western and Arab countries seek to make Russia weak and insecure as one of their priorities. Pakistan and Afghanistan are the best way to supply Russia's opposition towards Central Asia. For Russia, the insecurity in Central Asia means insecurity in Russia. Mohammad Hanif Atmar, the Afghan president's national security adviser has said that ISIS wants to spread its terrorist activities through Afghanistan to Central Asia and its neighboring countries. Noor, the governor of Balkh province, said there is a strategic plan underway to let the ISIS penetrate Central Asian countries through northern Afghanistan. Meanwhile, countries like Russia and Tajikistan have expressed their growing concern about insecurities in northern Afghanistan.

Domestic disputes in Afghanistan National Unity government

Poverty, economic and human backwardness have made way for development of terrorism. Not implementing the government-nation building process in the country and to enhance the spirit of ethnicity have accelerated getting some areas out of government control and bringing them under terrorist groups’ control which expand the scope of their activities. The dissatisfaction with economic and social policy of the government has led to frustration of people in such areas and even assisting the anti-government Extremist groups. Furthermore, the social structure and cultural conformity of some northern cities such as Kunduz, and Wahhabi approach through religious schools in Kunduz province, one of the main origins of Hekmatyar's Islamic Party, have all paved the way for extremism. It should be noted that disputes and disagreements between the president and chief executive of the national unity government of Afghanistan and their teams are among the other causes of the increased insecurity. As there are still some challenges for electing the Ministry of Defense and the head of National Army headquarters. We may conclude that current insecurity is correlated to political situation in the country, and extremist groups, internal and external enemies take a great advantage of this opportunity.

The role of Pakistan

Many Afghan officials believe that armed groups from Central Asia are active only in the border areas; therefore, some Pakistani groups are recently entering the region to create insecurity in these areas. In this view, Pakistanis consider the northern Afghanistan as the center for opposition against the Taliban thoughts. Even in the past, the Taliban insurgents have suffered the highest number of casualties in these areas, so they try to make this area insecure.

ISIS and foreign players

Financial support of Arab countries (Arab countries in south of the Persian Gulf especially the Saudis) has expanded the influence of militias and ISIS in southern Afghanistan. Meanwhile, Wahhabi Arabs consider none-Pashtuns (both Shia and Sunni) as anti-Wahhabism, and that is why they have focused on the north, and there is higher insecurity in the region.