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The Holy month of Ramadan has begun in Afghanistan, and it will also be a month of waiting.
It began on April 13th and this year it is filled with a sense of urgency and anticipation as to whether the United States will withdraw from Afghanistan and fulfill its commitments.
According to MSM reports Biden has realized that there is neither a military nor a political solution to Afghanistan’s issues, or rather that they can’t be solved through outside intervention.
To MSM’s shock, this withdrawal will not happen by the pre-agreed date of May 1st, 2021, but rather prior to the 20th anniversary of September 11th. Other NATO troops in the country will follow suit with the same timeline. Britain will withdraw nearly all its troops from Afghanistan along with Washington’s forces.
It is unknown how the Taliban will accept this, as there have been warnings that attacks on US and NATO personnel and positions would be renewed if the May 1st deadline isn’t honored.
In reality, the fighting in Afghanistan is nowhere near finished, and has not subsided. Afghan Security forces frequently clash with the Taliban, and attack their positions and vice versa.
Overall, after the signing of the Doha agreement, the number of Taliban attacks in Afghanistan increased by 24%. This, of course, was announced by the Afghan authorities.
On April 12th, Taliban reports said that in clashes throughout the country, at least 54 Afghan security forces were killed and 13 injured.
At least 23 Afghan security forces were killed in Taliban attacks on the first day of Ramadan.
Afghan Security forces reportedly killed 91 Taliban and injured 43 more, in “reciprocation” operations on the same day.
Clashes continue despite President Ashraf Ghani and the head of the Supreme Council for National Reconciliation, Abdullah Abdullah calling for peace during the celebration of the holy month.
There is a complete standstill, both in terms of fighting and in negotiations. The Taliban said that they would not attend any conference or political forum aimed at normalization until all foreign troops leave the country.
This mostly relates to the recent announcement of an Afghanistan peace conference to be held in Turkey, between April 24th and May 4th. The Taliban completely rejected attending it if the United States doesn’t fulfill its commitments.
In a statement the group said that any peace would only be possible as an internal solution between Afghanistan’s own parties and that ambiguous and unclear statements benefited nobody and contributed to peace least of all.
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