By Zamir Awan for the Saker Blog
The death toll in a bomb attack that targeted schoolgirls in Kabul on 8 May 2021 (Saturday) has risen to 85, around 147 people injured, some are in critical condition, and the fatality rate may increase with time. However, many schoolgirls are still missing and could not determine their safety or whereabouts yet. The school blast may be aimed to de-track troops withdrawal or blaming the Taliban.
There has been no official claim of responsibility yet. The Taliban has denied being behind the blasts. However, conflict is raging in Afghanistan, with Afghan security forces in daily combat with the Taliban, who have waged war to overthrow the foreign-backed Government since they were ousted from power in Kabul in 2001. The US-backed Hamid Karzai and then Ashraf Ghani to form Governments in Afghanistan without the consensus or consultation with the people of Afghanistan. Both Governments were not recognized nor gained popularity in Afghanistan. As a matter of fact, they were termed US-backed puppet Governments. Neither they gained control over Afghanistan. Still, the Taliban held almost 70% of Afghanistan and emerged as a real pillar of power among the masses. That is why the US negotiated a peace deal with them directly in the Doha (Qatar) negotiations. Initially, the Afghan Government was not involved in Doha talks, but in a later stage, they were involved too.
The Afghan Government is fragile and shaky, especially after the US-Troop’s withdrawal. It seems there will be no role of the current Afghan Government in the future political structure in Afghanistan. That was why the Afghan Government was initially against troop’s withdrawal or any peace settlement in Afghanistan. Foreign troops were protecting the Afghan Government, and it was apparent that after the foreign troop’s departure, they might collapse immediately and may not find space to stay in Afghanistan. Afghan Government was a major hurdle in troop’s withdrawal and political settlement of Afghanistan peacefully.
India and Israel were exploiting the instability in Afghanistan and were conducting terrorist attacks on Pakistan from Afghan soil. There was sufficient evidence that most of the terrorist attacks in Pakistan were planned, executed from Afghanistan, and traced to Indian or Israeli origin.
Of course, a stable and peaceful Afghanistan does not suit India either Israel. They must be creating hurdles in the Afghan-Peace process and sabotaging the troop’s withdrawal.
Pakistan has assessed such reactions from both Israel and India and has warned and termed them “Spoiled-elements.”
It is believed that the Taliban is the son of the soil and the absolute owner of Afghanistan. They are more interested in peace and establishing their Government after foreign troop’s departure a stable and strong government to enable reconstruction of their motherland. Definitely, they will not be creating mischievous tricks to delay troops’ departure in either case.
It is also believed that Americans are sincerely leaving Afghanistan, and they also may not be interested in any such kind of sabotage. Nor such tricks will change their mind or disrupt their departure. It is anticipated that they will leave Afghanistan by or before 11 September 2021. The US has spent two decades, Trillions of Dollars, sacrificed the precious lives of thousands of its soldiers, and outnumbered injured, and damaged its reputation, and have decided to leave the country finally. For Americans, face-saving and safe return is a priority. They might not want to indulge in any complications at this stage. Americans might damage the Infrastructure they have built in Afghanistan or destroy its weapons and war machinery worth an estimated US Dollars of 80 Billion. But may not sabotage withdrawal at this stage.
American has other priorities and wanted to focus on new fronts. It will be in their interest to close down the existing fronts and concentrate on new challenges. In view of the above, although the CIA has a track record of blasts, sabotage, and terrorist attack, I believe, this time, the US is not behind these blasts.
It will be rather difficult to conclude who was behind the blasts, but I believe neither Taliban nor Americans.
However, the blasts were condemned worldwide. Pakistan strongly condemns the reprehensible attacks at a school in Kabul, Afghanistan, which led to the loss of many precious lives and injuries. The Government and the people of Pakistan offer heartfelt condolences to the Government and the people of Afghanistan and pray for the quick recovery of the injured.
The Human Rights Commission of Pakistan (HRCP) has strongly condemned the brutal terrorist attack on a girls’ school in Kabul on Saturday, which cost over 85 lives—most of them, young students, said a statement issued on Monday.
Pakistan condemns terrorism in all forms and manifestations. At this moment of grief, Pakistan stands by Afghan brethren in their struggle against the scourge of terrorism. Pakistan will continue to support Afghanistan on its path to peace, progress, and prosperity.
Time and again, Pakistan has expressed its sincere efforts for a peaceful, political solution to the Afghan crisis. A stable and peaceful Afghanistan is vital for Pakistan’s prosperity and development. Pakistan was the single largest victim of the Afghan problem. Pakistan sacrificed 80,000 precious lives, outnumbered injuries, with many lifetime disabilities, and an estimated economic loss worth US Dollars 250 Billion. In addition to it, social unrest, menace of intolerance, extremism, and terrorism was special gift. Drug culture and gun culture were a by-product of the Afghan war for Pakistan. Pakistan will be the first country on earth to struggle sincerely for Afghan peace and wish for a permanent solution. I want to Afghanistan, sustainable stability and prosperity forever.
Pope Francis called the attack an “inhuman act” in remarks to pilgrims in St. Peter’s Square in Vatican City on Sunday.
United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres also condemned the attack and expressed his deepest sympathies to the victims’ families and the Afghan Government and people.
On Sunday, the Taliban announced a three-day ceasefire through Eid al-Fitr, the Muslim holiday observed at the end of Ramadan.
The Chinese ambassador to Afghanistan, Mr. Wang Yu, said the abrupt US announcement of a complete withdrawal of forces had led to a succession of attacks throughout the country. “China calls on foreign troops in Afghanistan to take into full account the security of people in the country and the region, pull out responsibly and avoid inflicting more turmoil and suffering on the Afghan people.”
The American withdrawal will create a vacuum, and a power struggle may emerge into deadly attacks but let Afghan people decide their destiny. Afghanistan is an ancient civilization, and as a country, it existed for centuries. Many invaders came to Afghanistan and conquered the land but could not sustain their occupation for a long time. Finally, Afghan have pushed all invaders to leave Afghanistan. Afghans are brave, straightforward, and hardworking.
In recent history, Afghans pushed the British out, Russians Out, and now Americans out of Afghanistan. Afghanistan is termed the graveyard of big empires.
There exists a complete consensus in the region that all foreign troops should leave Afghanistan. It is the legitimate right of the people of Afghanistan to rule their motherland. A stable and peaceful Afghanistan is vital for developing the whole region as Afghanistan is located on the main ancient trading route and connecting Central Asia, East Asia, South Asia, and Eurasia with Arabian Sea Gwadar-Pakistan to further destinations in Africa and Middle-east and Europe.
There might be instability immediately after the foreign troops’ departure due to the vacuum created, but the Taliban can fill in the gap and compensate ll deficiencies in no time.
It is appealed to the UN to ensure a smooth transition in Afghanistan. The foreign powers who destroyed Afghanistan have the moral obligation to reconstruct Afghanistan. After accepting defeat, the US should make a peace treaty for compensation in the same line as the peace treaty with Germany and Japan after their defeat in the World Wars. War crimes trial and compensations must be ensured by the UN and guaranteed by Russia and China. Germany and Japan are still paying such compensations, and the US should voluntarily follow their precedence too.
Author: Prof. Engr. Zamir Ahmed Awan, Sinologist (ex-Diplomat), Editor, Analyst, Non-Resident Fellow of CCG (Center for China and Globalization), National University of Sciences and Technology (NUST), Islamabad, Pakistan. (E-mail: awanzamir@yahoo.com).
After reading this article, i know
Pakistani ISI? (Pakistani security apparatus) is responsible.
it is the Pakistani version of the deep state / MIC that profited from
the turmoil in Afghanistan, and they dont want it to end.
very simple.
Obama’s ISIS is a much more likely perpetrator, with the US claiming to want to withdraw while sending their goons to create a situation in which they have to stay. When Dems follow a neocon agenda, it can get as pervert as this.
There is only one player in the region that can take advantage of the power vaccuum left behind by the Americans’ departure, that is Iran.
The Iraqis are Arabs, don’t speak the same language as Iranians, fought against Iran for eight years, and yet when the US left Iraq, Iraq fully fell under Iran’s influence. Afghanistan is a Persian-speaking nation, has very good relations with Iran, and there are something like three million Afghan refugees living in Iran right now. As soon as the US leaves, Afghanistan will naturally fall to Iran.
This attack, which took place in a Shia neighborhood, was the work of cowardly Zionists and Saudi Wahhabis, as most terrorist attacks in the world seem to be nowadays.
OP says “Afghanistan is an ancient civilization, and as a country, it existed for centuries.”
Afghanistan is where the ancient civilization of Iran took shape. There is no Afghan civilization. Afghanistan has been separated from Iran for a mere 2-3 centuries, whereas it was part of Iran, as an agglomerate of multiple provinces, for 2000 years.
Afghanistan today is a very loose federation of various Iranic and Turkic tribes. Rarely has it had a lasting and influential centralized power in its short history. Very many ethnic and religious groups co-exist in the vast area of Afghanistan. Sunni, Shia, even rare blond and blue eyed people who still worship an Indo-Aryan religion, tucked away in inaccessible parts of the mountains.
Feelings of national affiliation are weak in Afghanistan. The people are united and divided along tribal and sectarian lines. If not for the Taliban, and Iran, Afghanistan probably wouldn’t even survive the US departure as any kind of cohesive entity.
Absolutely correct!!!…..Iran defacto runs Afghanistan. All the building material, grain, oil and gas, fresh produce, auto and a dozen other essentials are trucked in via Iran, unbeknownst to many fools around the world. It is totally in Iranian interests to keep the US and India engaged, spending their blood and treasure to prop up a Tehran friendly Afghan gubment. Beats the hell out of Iran blowing its wad on this drama any day. Nobody other than the wahabbi jihadists want this order disturbed. Iran, Russia and by default even China would have to shoulder this burden of containing this brewing pakistan funded jihadi talibunny terror if the US actually ever left.
alright,
i could agree with Jean-Marie L and Anonymous
if in the next 6 months we see another ISIS Caliphate rise in Afghanistan
then you both are right… and Tajik pres walking alongside putin was no coincidence
but my hunch comes from the idea that the one who points the fingers at others
is the guilty one. And blaming India, LOL… well only a Pakistani could do that.
So there is my guilty party.
but we shall see, give it 6 months
“It is also believed that Americans are sincerely leaving Afghanistan, and they also may not be interested in any such kind of sabotage.”
The USA has been in Afghanistan under false pretenses since the initial invasion in 2001. Remember, the pretext for that invasion was that Osama bin Laden was holed up in a cave there. In reality, the invasion had been planned for years, way before 9/11. The Taliban had almost eradicated opium production by 2001 and the CIA was itching to get Afghanistan back to providing 90% of the world’s heroin, which they did by 2005.
Al-CIAda has always been behind the sabotage that has kept this war going for two decades. Don’t expect Biden to rock the boat and pull all US troops out any more than he will acknowledge that the real perps of 9/11 were not Osama bin Laden and his merry band of 19 Arabs. You will never hear from him that Israel did 9/11 and got away with it.
You will never hear from him that Israel did 9/11 and got away with it.
Keeping in mind, of course, that it’s nearly impossible to tell exactly where Israel ends and the US begins. They’re pretty much one and the same within the DC beltway. Bush, Cheney, Wolfowitz, Rumsfeld (law firm much?) and friends (aka, Congressional and Deep State accomplices galore) were all up to their eyeballs in that little caper too.
That’s why it’s impossible to pin down what is actually going on with US foreign policy and why the author can write an absurdity like, “It is also believed that Americans are sincerely leaving Afghanistan, and they also may not be interested in any such kind of sabotage.” Future historians will marvel at how all the wars the US has fought since 9/11 were for bullshit reasons and were ultimately self-destructive.
I’m reminded of what Netanyahu said in 1990 to his guests at Fink’s Bar in Jerusalem, “America is a golden calf, and we will suck it dry, chop it up, and sell it off piece by piece until there is nothing left but the world’s biggest welfare state that we will create and control. Why? Because it is the will of God, and America is big enough to take the hit so we can do it again and again and again. This is what we do to countries that we hate. We destroy them very slowly and make them suffer for refusing to be our slaves.”
The bombing is the oldest gag in the book. cui bono?
What a jihadi outlook Mr Awan? Lots of lies and propaganda detected in your article, too many to even bother listing. Absolutely disgraceful of you to be supporting Ex-Cia mercenary wahabbi jihadists. Russia/ China/ Iran/ India will not tolerate a backward wahabbi central terror haven smack in the middle of their neighborhood. Kabul regime for all its shortcomings is far more preferable to those brief but very dark talib days of the 90’s.
The Taliban won and they will be the government of Afghanistan accept or otherwise people like you are part of the problem. Anon and Ashon sounds like Israelis to me, a bunch that want the region in permanent war and anarchy.
Maybe Turkey can help? Says in this TASS article that they offered to step up after the school attack in Kazan.
https://tass.com/emergencies/1288369
”Meanwhile, a source in the Turkish foreign ministry told TASS Minister Mevlut Cavusogly had promised Ankara’s support following the incident, if necessary. “Minister Cavusolglu spoke with Tatarstan’s President Rustam Minnikhanov today. He expressed condolences on behalf of our president [Recep Tayyip Erdogan] and the entire Turkish people in the wake of the attack on a school in Kazan. Minister Cavusolgu also told Minnikhanov that Turkey was ready to offer any help, if necessary,” the source said.”
Is targeting a girls’ school random?
Who has been using girls’ schools as a justification to stay in Afghanistan?
There is a pattern of such acts of sabotage every time there is talk of the Americans leaving.
Saying it is not the CIA or in America’s interests assumes that America acts as an integrated agent.
It does not. We have seen in Syria how Pentagon and CIA sponsored Jihadi’s were fighting each other.
What about the drugs running (via military planes and bases) funding CIA covert ops, etc?
I cannot reveal who it was nor do I think any public evidence will make it clear in future.
But it is easy to underestimate the cynicism required to consider suspects/false flags.
I agree. The loss of the drug money to the CIA must really hurt. These people are in the business of profiting from human misery and this mass murder would be ” just another day at the office”.The US intelligence agencies often, clearly act independently of other branches of government
How many schools have pakistani talibunnies targeted within pakistan? would you like me to list them for you? le me tell you…….hundreds! Do you have a clue? or yous just jiving?
Don’t expect any kind of repair or reparations in Afghanistan, nor in Syria, Libya, Yemen, or Iran (post sanctions).
It will not happen.
The only parties that might invest will be driven by private profit motives, or perhaps China (and maybe India). No other powers will do squat.
Prof. Awan,
You have three paragraphs in particular that cry out for “sources”.
“India and Israel were exploiting the instability in Afghanistan and were conducting terrorist attacks on Pakistan from Afghan soil. There was sufficient evidence that most of the terrorist attacks in Pakistan were planned, executed from Afghanistan, and traced to Indian or Israeli origin.”
“Of course, a stable and peaceful Afghanistan does not suit India either Israel. They must be creating hurdles in the Afghan-Peace process and sabotaging the troop’s withdrawal.”
“Pakistan has assessed such reactions from both Israel and India and has warned and termed them “Spoiled-elements.”
This is important information for which I’d like to see the sources.
Additionally, you point away from Taliban or American agents as responsible for the School Blast.
In news reports, there was mention of ISIS as the culprits.
Yet, nowhere do you mention ISIS as a factor inside Afghanistan.
For well over a year, nearly two, we have heard, seen and register many reports about the movement via CIA/Centcom/NATO assets of thousands of fighters out of Syria and into Afghanistan. The troubles facing Tajikistan and Uzbekistan are laid to ISSI fighters. Some of the troubles Iran faces are ISIS terrorists, and all these zones are tied to Afghanistan as the central node of ISIS.
What can you tell us of ISIS in Afghanistan?
Firstly, I think this is a very good assessment of the situation. A good article professor.
As unfortunate as it might seem to many. Indian’s current despotic govt and Israel are close friends and play a strategic game in Afghanistan. The amount of lies told about Taliban from their rise has spoilt many brains. The totally inhumane destruction and killing of this country finds little sympathy in my experience. A real tragedy indeed. In fact the intense lies are so universal they were clearly a strategy for the impending brutal bombing campaign and destruction. I wouldn’t say they are perfect and need some help to transition towards being wise and mature admistrators. Infiltrators are no doubt ensconced. They have earned their right as heroic defenders of their land.
To understand why Zioinism cajoles the current Indian govt is many fold. One can simply look at the BRI of the new emerging power, China, to understand how the BJP with its grand designs for a Greater India has been co-opted. A stable Afghanistan presents trade corridors through Asia, linking Iran, thus the Middle East, Pakistan as well as access to the Indian ocean. There are vast natural resources in Afghanistan which would create a boom in the country and provide vital ingredients for the vast Chinese machinery.
It would enhance Pakistan with a stable border and a friendly nation, increased trade and regional co-operation.
To the current Indian govt such a scenario is unacceptable. Hence, their bromance with Israel and increasing military and intelligence ties. Their combined religious nationalism and hostility to Muslims is a serious threat to the region. One can only hope the Indians, of whom many are good people, can cast away the spell of Hindu Nationalism and polarisation.
I would have to agree that a part of the American military wants to get out of this unwinnable war, but the zionist control will do all is possible to prevent this. This includes the use of radical proxies and private mercenaries to create civil strife. The Taliban adamantly fights the military occupation as well as radical elements. It would be difficult for ISIS to gain any real foothold. However, black ops and dirty intelligence operatives will continue and try to obfuscate the reality of things.
I know everyone is on pins and needles
waiting to see what I, Lauren, has to say.
( Oh, gosh….I hope self deprecating humour is allowed?)
With all due respect and gratitude to the Shaker and all his wonderful friends.
First and foremost, I am so grateful to all who come here. You have sustained and informed and challenged me.
Bless you all.
So, as to matter at hand, I have to agree that the party with the most to gain and absolutely nothing to lose is the Hegemon.
Ahh, when all else fails, nothing like a big dose of “controlled chaos”.
Is that the tinkling of glasses in Langley, I hear?
Now won’t you pardon me?
It’s all so nauseating, isn’t it?
I’m taking my cat for a walk in the rain….
JoJo? Get your galoshes, sweetie…
Blessings!
Lauren
Lauren i love your humour. As serious and insightful as The Saker blog can be, it is a trip into the darkness, especially lately.
An effort to relieve tension for even a few seconds is greatly appreciated.
I see America as suspect number 1, but I am sending out detectives to interview, Pakistan, India and Israel as well.
Enough ISIS terror for the summer leads to Biden retracting his commitment in September.
Until the hegemonies is defeated in its entirety will be the day the Afghans can begin reconstruction, unimpeded, with China and Russia.
For everyone conspiring that it’s the hand of CIA/Israel/India just when time is right for US to leave, harks back to the same kind of incidents that have happened, every time, the US has even thought aloud about leaving.
For one, they all may be monsters in some people’s eyes, but they don’t stoop so low to kill school children, that too girls going to school.
There is a message there. It’s a warning about fundamentalism to come. Lock up your women.
i lost interest after reading a few lines. the same old simple crap.
designed to divert away from very well organizad international families and organisations . you know its nonsense when the players are termed… israel, pakistan, india, etc.
what about bnai brith?
or the family names like Bush (drug dealers), i would love to read about the long term planners who weave in between nation states to get their objectives.
eg: just finished reading about the battle of skopie hill.
the first prime minister of a british south africa, Winston church hill ( a war correspondent) future british prime minister and ghandi )a stretcher bearer…. then indian prime minister against those evil colonists, were all at the battle of skopie hill when the british were busy colonising the afrikaans after they discovered gold and diamonds.
im pretty sure that wasnt a coincidence. so who were they working for? certainly not nation states…. nation states are just pawns on a board.