Afghan situation after 2014 remains challenging

"I'm a tailor. I've owned this tailor shop for eight years," said Sayed Jalal, who moved his small shop from Peshawar, Pakistan to Kabul eight years ago. "This was initially a small shop, but year after year, my business gets better. Now I own two other shops and have several workers working for me. The business is very good nowadays." Although the business is good, this shop-owner still feels concerned about his future. When asked about his prospect for post- 2014, he said, "I am a little worried about the future as the U.S. and NATO forces are getting ready to withdraw from Afghanistan. I am not optimistic and like many Afghans." "I am concerned that there might be another civil war after the pull out of the foreign forces at the end of 2014," explained Sayed. "We are afraid maybe Taliban would make a comeback and we would lose all progresses that were gained over the past 10 or 12 years." Sayed is not the only one that shares this concern. Amrullah Aman, a retired Afghan National Army general and a defense expert, told Xinhua, "If the world community once again leaves Afghanistan at lurch, it would plunge into chaos and thus all the progress we had made over the past 10 years would end in fiasco and the country will once again become the terrorists sanctuary which eventually threats the security of U.S. and the world." According to Aman, Afghan security forces haven't been ready in terms of equipment and capabilities. After coalition forces withdraw from Afghanistan in 2014, the Taliban insurgents would grow more active, worsening the currently fragile security situation. "If Taliban come back to power, it will be very difficult to work here as a tailor," said Sayed. "Because Taliban would not leave young men and women to wear new cloth and walk across the city." For others, the return of Taliban means they must once again engage in battle. "If Taliban returns, I would pick up arms and fight them once again." Abdul, a local driver, told Xinhua. In the past 10 years after Taliban regime was toppled, Afghanistan has made huge progress in all fields. Statistics from Afghan government and United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA) shows that Afghan economy kept an annual growth rate of 8 percent while annual income per capita increased to 520 U.S. dollars in the past 9 years. Education, especially for girl students, has been greatly improved. The development of communication and energy industries also picked up paces. For the post-war reconstruction, the international community has offered huge amount of aid to Afghanistan. Figures from Oxfam, an international NGO, show that, although Afghanistan has made tremendous progress in terms of medical care and education, this Central Asian country is still one of the poorest countries in the world, with almost 97 percent of its GDP comes from foreign agencies in this country. Therefore, after foreign troops withdraw from Afghanistan in 2014, Afghan economy may very likely experience a huge blow. "Recently, and particularly since this summer, the housing business has gotten worse in comparison with the last year and the year before," said Gul Rahman, a real estate dealer in Kabul. "To be frank, there is a 50 percent decrease in the rental price for foreigners, international and non-governmental organizations agencies compared with the previous years. Why the price is cut? Because people think that majority of the aid organizations and foreign agencies are leaving the country as international aid is declining in Afghanistan." The prices of houses also dropped off at about 30 percent, according to Gul, because the investors are also not sure that the situation in the country gets better in future. They are afraid when the foreign forces leave the country, there will be no safe environment for their business. Their fear are not baseless, since the internal security situation in Afghanistan is still unstable after 10 years that Taliban regime was toppled. Peace and enduring security is still a dream for most Afghan people, causing many in Afghanistan to find their way out of the war-torn country. Homayon Shoib, a local correspondent in Afghanistan, has been working as a reporter for foreign news agencies in southern province of Kandahar since 2002. With the security situations get worse day by day, especially after Ahmad Wali Karzai, the then Governor of Kandahar province and brother of Afghan president Hamid Karzai, was assassinated in July, 2011, Shoib moved to the relative peaceful city of Kabul to continue his work. "I have had a difficult time when I was working in Kandahar office. Mostly, or to be frank in daily basis, I had covered hundreds of unpleasant incidents in the south over that period of time," Shoib told Xinhua. "One day I covered news about a huge blast in a dog fighting ground where hundreds of people were gathering to watch the dog fighting and the blast left over 200 people killed and injured." Like many Afghans who have worked for foreigners, Shoib decided to leave the country after 2014, out of the fear of Taliban's possible return. "I am a little afraid about the future, because I know, if the support of international community for Afghanistan decline, the situation here will be worse since this war-torn country still needs the help to stand on its feet," concluded Shoib.