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| What is the source of the Taliban's power?. cradit for BBC bangla |
The Afgan government and the world are watching the incredible military success of the Taliban in Afganistan. Because in the last seven days, more than a dozen provincial capital cities have fallen to them. what is even more surprising is that seven of these are in the northern and northwestern provinces of Afghanistan , where the Taliban have never been so piwerful in the past.
The question is , how has the Taliban been able to show this military might, even after being ousted by US and NATO forces for the last 20 years since it was ousted in 2001? Dr. Asim Yousafzai, an international relations lecturer at the university of maryland in the United States and an analyst on Afghan politicts and secyrity, said the Taliban has been moving slowly with this strategy over the past 10 years. they knew America wold one day leave Afghanistan. They were just waiting for the time . He added that the Americans strategy was to capture major cities in Afghanistan . But villages outside the city remained under Taliban control. Then , at a time when the United States was shifting responsibilility for security to the Afghan army , the Taliban were slowly targeting cities .
Since then, when US President Biden abruptly decided to withdraw all American troops by 9/11, the Taliban have deprived Afghan security forces of sleep. One important provincial capital city after another has been collapsing for the past one week after the storm hit more than half of the country's districts in the last two months. Yousafzai thinks the Taliban are being very tactful. Instead of the ethnic Pashtun-dominated south and east, they have deployed forces in the northern and northwestern provinces, where government forces and government-backed militias are more powerful.
About a month ago, more than a thousand government troops defected and fled to neighboring Tajikistan. Even when the Taliban were in power, they could not enter Badakhshan, on the border with Tajikistan. But that province is now in their possession. In addition, provinces like Takhar, Kunduz and Zaranj, where Pashtuns are not in the majority, have been surprised by the way the Taliban have taken over without any major resistance. Yousafzai says the Taliban, originally a group of ethnic Pashtuns and hardline Sunni Wahhabi ideologues, has been trying to draw attention to other ethnic groups in Afghanistan over the past few years. The Taliban's attempt to seize the Tajik-dominated province of Badakhshan is a testament to that.
A recent investigative report published in the American journal Foreign Policy, an international relations study, says many frustrated Tajik, Turkmen and Uzbek group leaders are joining the Taliban. As a result, the Taliban have been able to impose control beyond their traditional sphere of influence. Many Tajik fighters in the northeastern province of Badakhshan are now Taliban. Similarly, many Turkmen fighters in the northwestern province of Faryab are now Taliban. The Taliban have also been able to recruit many Uzbek fighters in the northern province of Yojyan.
Zahid Hossain, a senior journalist and security analyst in Islamabad, said not only ordinary fighters, but also about a quarter of the Taliban's central leadership now belong to the Tajik, Uzbek, Turkmen and Hazara communities. In January of this year, the Taliban's top policy-making council, known as the Rahbari Shura or Quetta Shura, took on at least three non-ethnic Pashtuns. Shadow governors appointed by the Taliban in many provinces in recent times are not ethnic Pashtuns. Many of these ethnic fighters and group leaders are unhappy with the Kabul government for various reasons, which the Taliban have used. They are reassuring the leaders of these disgruntled groups that joining them will bring security and dignity. At the same time, the Taliban are telling them that the war against the Kabul government is not just a war of the Pashtuns, but a war for the creation of an "Islamic Emirate."
In a recent publication in the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, researcher Giles Doronsoro wrote in a research report entitled "The Taliban's War Winning Strategies" that the NATO alliance has downplayed the Taliban's intelligence and capabilities. ‘Some misconceptions about the Taliban were the biggest mistake of the international forces. They thought the Taliban was a shaky coalition of many groups, strong only locally. 'But in reality, Giles Doronsoro said the Taliban is a very strong organization with the right strategy, planning and coordination. ‘Their intelligence activities and propaganda are very effective. The local commanders have a lot of freedom, so they can understand the situation and make quick decisions. '
Who has provided the Taliban with the money, weapons, training and intelligence to survive 20 years of fighting with American and NATO forces? Yousafzai believes the Taliban do not need to confront others for money or weapons, as the Taliban make a lot of money from the drug trade. ‘Ninety per cent of the heroin market in the US and Europe comes from Afghanistan. The Taliban controls everything from opium cultivation to heroin production and smuggling in the south of the country. ' Earnings up to 1.8 billion. For one thing, in 2020, the Taliban earned 460 million from opium cultivation alone. However, it is not possible to get a precise account of this income.
Source: Translated from BBC Bangla.
