Kabul's Fall: Explained

The day after the Taliban installed themselves in the presidential palace of Kabul, two decades after being toppled by the U.S. government, fear instilled among individuals about Taliban’s brutal rule.

Image source: New York Times

The day after the Taliban installed themselves in the presidential palace of Kabul, two decades after being toppled by the U.S. government, fear instilled among individuals about Taliban’s brutal rule. Before understanding how the Taliban took control over Afghanistan, one needs to be aware of their identity, ideology and their motive for the country. For understanding the takeover of Taliban, it is important to recount a brief history of Afghanistan.

Colonial Chronology of Afghanistan

The country that we now know as Afghanistan today has a long precedence of domination and colonialism by western conquerors as well as internally conflicting entities.

Darus I of Babylonia and Alexander the Great of Macedonia were the first ones to capture the gateway between Asia and Europe in 500 B.C. and 329 B.C. respectively.

In the 11th century, Mahmud of Ghazni conquered and created an empire from Iran to India and is considered one of the greatest conquerors of Afghanistan.

In the 17th century, Genghis Khan conquered the land. Until the 1700’s, the area was not considered as a single country. It was in 1870 that the area started getting influenced by Islam and was controlled by various Arab conquerors.

British Colonialism

In the 19th century, Britain started colonising most of the countries and to protect its Indian empire from Russia, they attempted to annex Afghanistan which resulted in the British-Afghan wars.

The British invaded Afghanistan twice - in 1838-42 and 1878-81. Both times, the Afghan population showcased resistance in front of their oppressors. The wars had a devastating impact on both Britain and Afghanistan.

There were tensions and a state of resentment for the British forces occupying the region of Kabul. In 1879, Afghans were defeated, resulting in the Treaty of Gandamak. This meant that Afghanistan would remain an independent nation but its foreign policy would be controlled by the British.

When Russia collapsed at the end of World war I, Afghans desired for a full independence but the British were reluctant to fight any more wars after the Third Anglo-Afghan war in 1919. Within a month and with the bombing of the Emir's palace in Kabul, the British signed the Treaty of Rawalpindi (1919) followed by the Anglo-Afghan treaty of 1921. The treaty resulted in the full independence of Afghanistan.

The Soviet Invasion of Afghanistan

On April 27th, 1978, Afghan army engineered a coup against the ruling republic President Daoud Khan and he was assassinated. Nur Mohammad Taraki became the leader establishing the Democratic Republic of Afghanistan. Taraki was a communist leader and the infighting between the two communist party blocs resulted in his execution which was carefully planned and carried out by Hafizullah Amin who arrested and murdered Taraki and installed himself as the leader for Afghanistan. As instability gripped the country, the Soviet forces invaded Afghanistan on December 24th, 1979.

The Soviet Union was known for its dominant foreign military interventions during the Cold War, most of which stood out during their invasion in Afghanistan .The Soviet troops invaded Afghanistan in December 1979 and replaced Hafizullah Amin with communist leader Babrak Karmal as the head of the state. The Soviet invasion can be attributed to two reasons- ideological and geopolitical. With the instability and slight fall of communism in Afghanistan under the regime of Hafizullah Amin, the Soviet Union wished to support the Afghanistan regime with its communist ideology. The geopolitical reason was the ongoing Cold War with the USA and USSR's commitment to occupy major nation states, to establish a communist world order.

The invasion led to the USSR becoming increasingly dominant and interested in the national affairs of Afghanistan. Initially what was called as having an 'advisory body', rapidly transformed to a full scale intervention by the Soviet Union. The resulting impact of the USSR’s invasion on Afghan muslims provided an opportunity for their mobilisation. The Soviet invasion also generated support for the Afghan jihad from the US who viewed it as a strategic viewpoint for as a means to contain and defeat the Soviet Union during the Cold War period.

In facilitating the mobilization and training of Muslim fighters and supplying weaponry for jihad, the U.S. contributed to the Soviet withdrawal in 1989 and the fall of its local collaborators in Kabul in 1992. The assistance was done covertly under the codename of Operation Cyclone. In 1992, the Mujahideen emerged victorious with financial support from the U.S.

What is Taliban? How did it emerge powerful?

The ‘Taliban’ or the students in Pashto language emerged in early 1990’s following the withdrawal of Soviet troops from Afghanistan. The Taliban stands as a militant group influenced by the ideology of Pashtun nationalism and has been intrinsically identified as part of the fundamentalist Islamic group-Al Qaeda. Having said that, it does become important to recognize that Al Qaeda and Taliban differ significantly in ideology but both practice branches of Sunni Islam.

From south-western Afghanistan, the Taliban quickly extended their influence soon after the disintegration of the Soviet Union. They captured the capital of Afghanistan, Kabul in the year 1995, after overthrowing the regime of President Burhanuddin Rabbani. By 1998, they were in control of almost the entire nation of Afghanistan.

Taliban’s Ideology

During its five years in power, the Taliban enforced a stricter version of Sharia law. They introduced strict punishments such as public executions of convicted murderers. Men were required to grow long beards and women were required to wear an all-covered burqa. The Taliban also defeated freedom of expression and speech, by banning music, art and forms of cinema. Largely, they were accused of violation of human rights and cultural abuses.

The attention towards Taliban in Afghanistan was only drawn in the wake of 11 September, 2001 World Trade center attacks in New York. The Taliban were accused of providing shelter to Osama bin Laden of Al Qaeda-the prime suspect of these attacks.

Situation in Afghanistan

Taliban forces entered Kabul, the capital on August 15, after the president Ashraf Ghani fled the country, effectively ending the effort to establish a democratic state of Afghanistan. At the same time, the U.S. forces evacuated from Afghanistan, leaving behind a distressed army at Kabul. The U.S. pulled its air support, intelligence and contractors servicing Afghanistan’s planes and helicopters. This has considerably drawn attention to the U.S's diplomatic strategy of betraying Afghanistan, and leaving it under the influence of the Taliban forces. In one of his addresses, Biden remarked, "I stand squarely behind my decision. After 20 years, I've learned the hard way that there was never a good time to withdraw US forces. The mission in Afghanistan was never supposed to be nation-building,"

What does this mean for the people of Afghanistan?

The people of Afghanistan face an uncertain future. The Taliban militant group is now thought to be stronger and stricter, than at any point since they were ousted in 2001. Women and girls who enjoyed unprecedented freedoms in recent years, including the right to education and to go to work, are under particular threat. Taliban clerics are preparing to return Afghanistan to a more repressive era in a city whose population has swelled from an influx of people who had hoped to escape the Taliban advance.

Conclusion

Today, what we're witnessing is not only a threat to a nation, but a threat that is posed to the entire system of democracy. Today, what we might see as the Taliban's takeover in Afghanistan is the same what's been happening with Kashmir all these years.

Today, what we're witnessing as a grave violation of the rights of the women in Afghanistan, has been happening the same all over the world since times immemorial.

But still today, the only thing that has kept humanity alive is the concept of 'hope'. The hope that we have that one day we'll see birds chirping in Afghanistan instead of the wrath of bombs. The hope that we'll get to see the beauty of Afghanistan that it was before.

But how? It's time to realize that there's no single entity involved which ruined Afghanistan. It's time to realize that what Afghanistan really needs is the global support and the support from the United Nations in such times of crisis. Blame games didn't do good then, and they don't do good now.

All of us, through awareness and contributing to significant credible donations can make a difference in the lives of people living in Afghanistan. Turn your sympathy for them into power and be grateful of the privilege we're recipients of.

Article by: Shivangi Sharma and Kashish Chadha