This Week in History

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CWA # 1454, 23 August 2024
This Week in History
14 August 2021: Taliban returns to Kabul, following the American withdrawal

  Sim V

On 14 August 2021, the Taliban marched into Kabul and took control of Afghanistan. Mohammed Ashraf Ghani, the President of Afghanistan fled the country following the capture of Kabul by the Islamist militant group. Later that day, Taliban announced that they had entered The Arg, Presidential Palace capturing Kabul. The withdrawal of American soldiers from the region led to the downfall of the government and the return of Taliban.

From Doha Agreement to the Fall of Kabul
The United States of America and the Taliban signed a peace deal called the Doha Agreement, that provided withdrawal of troops from the region with the condition of Taliban to engage into peaceful negotiations with the Afghan government. Direct talks between the Afghan government and the Taliban began months after the agreement was signed, however negotions failed. Thus the longest war on terrorism came to an end on 30 August 2021, when the last group of American forces evacuated. This move generated diverse opinions, the Biden Administration believes that the Americans had trained and equipped the Afghan military. They gave them every chance to determine their future but the Afghanistan political leader gave up and fled the country. The Afghan military collapsed without trying to fight. However, some believe that this was a policy failure as the Americans calculated the risk and still choose to withdraw. 

The agreement signed on 29 February 2020, between the U.S. and the Taliban outlined a plan for the US troops to withdraw all troops within fourteen months. NATO and coalition forces would also decrease their numbers. The Taliban committed to preventing any group, including al-Qaeda, from using Afghan soil to threaten the U.S. and its allies. 

However, there are significant challenges with the deal. It excluded the Afghan government, which the Taliban does not recognize as legitimate, and it made no reference to the Afghan Constitution, rule of law, democracy, or elections. 

The Afghan government failed to recognise that the United States would indeed leave. Even as the United States officially expressed its desire to exit from Afghanistan, the Afghan officials hoped for an alternative scenario. As a result, the Afghan government was not prepared to manage fights with the Taliban. The primary objective of the United States before leaving was to ensure a political stability in the region that would bring peace. However, the exclusion of the Afghan government from the US-Taliban talks was an obstacle to achieving this goal. The Taliban were unwilling to compromise. The issue of the release of prisoners was a major obstacle. While the U.S.-Taliban deal called for prisoner releases, it did not name individuals. The Taliban, however, insisted on a named list. The Afghan government was hesitant to release all 5,000 prisoners at once, fearing it could destabilize security. As a goodwill gesture, Ghani released an initial batch of 1,500 prisoners but also asked for a written promise from each prisoner that they would not return to the battlefield. The Intra-Afghan peace talks criticed, Ghani for repeatedly stalling and undermining the peace process to retain power. 

The pace at which the Taliban took over Kabul shocked the international community. In May, American troops had started pulling out. The Taliban announced the capture of Islam Khala and later the insurgents took control of the Spin Boulder an important trade route between Pakistan and Afghanistan. By July the American abandoned Bagram air base, the main hub for military operations. Within a week Taliban had taken Afghanistan’s second and third largest cities, Kandahar and Herat. They kept moving towards the capital once they took the city of Jalalabad and surrounded Kabul. By evening that day, the Taliban were inside the Arg taking full control of the country. According to the United Nations, close to 2400 Afghan civilians were killed or wounded in violence against the Taliban.

Afghanistan under the Taliban
Russia and China have been engaging with the Taliban to safeguard their interest in the region. They believe that engaging with the Taliban is a practical approach, the availability of natural resources and trade route have brought the countries to recognize Taliban. Therefore, by legitimizing the Taliban, they aim to gain a foothold and influence Afghanistan’s future. 

Afghanistan is twenty years behind the time, there is no constitution and everything is based on laws interpreted by the Taliban. Afghanistan’s future depends on mutual engagement between the Taliban and the international community, a senior United Nations official told the Security Council. 

For the last four decades, Afghanistan has been in a state of war. Even during the time of relative peace, no government had been able to fully control the entire Afghan territory, only an inclusive government will hold the key to a stable and secure future for Afghanistan.

About the author
Sim V is a Postgraduate Student in Department of Political Science at Christ University, Bengaluru
 

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