Afghanistan at the crossroads

She was planning her wedding. On the evening of January 20, at the end of her working day, Mehri Azizi, boarded a packed staff bus in Kabul that was to take her home. She never made it. Azizi and six of her colleagues were killed in a targeted Taliban bomb attack; 15 others were injured.

This was not just a suicide attack on the young and thriving media in Afghanistan. It was an attack on everything the Afghan people had come to value during the past 14 years.

Azizi, a bright, energetic graphic artist of 21, had joined Tolo TV five years earlier — quickly rising through the ranks of Afghanistan’s largest media organisation. As a teenager she had taken up the job and became part of our Tolo family to escape the tensions of everyday life — in one of the most dangerous cities in the world. Azizi was about to be promoted.

In the dark days following, as condolences poured in from around the world and as we laid each victim to rest, I couldn’t help but fear and wonder whether we were also burying the dreams of millions of young hopeful Afghans. Azizi, Mohammad Jawad Hussaini, Zainab Mirzaee, Mariam Ibrahimi, Mohammad Hussain, Mohammad Ali Mohammadi and Hussain Amiri embodied the optimism and determination of a whole generation of youth who, since the ouster of the Taliban, had worked hard — and succeeded — in making their country a better place.

Azizi, a woman from the Hazara minority group, was a role model for many of her peers and committed her spare time to a variety of environmental and social causes. She dazzled the Tolo TV studios with her presence and colourful headscarfs. She was a shining example of the progress made by Afghan women in our largely conservative society.

The young lives lost in this devastating attack had much to be proud of, for they had benefited most from the fall of the Taliban. Since 2002, more than nine million Afghan children now attend school, compared with fewer than a million before 2001. Almost half of Afghan girls are enrolled, and women make up 20 per cent of students in higher education, a proportion increasing year on year. Advances in technology and healthcare have reduced the infant mortality rate by half.

Afghans are more connected and better-informed, with access to more than 70 TV stations and 175 radio stations compared to one radio station before 2001. Mobile data services are available in 27 of 34 provinces through five network providers and, in 2014, we held our third national democratic elections, with people casting votes across the country.

However, this latest attack is yet another reminder of the precarious situation in which Afghanistan finds itself, and there are no quick or easy solutions.

On the military front there have been major setbacks. The drawdown announced by President Barack Obama in October to reduce the US troop commitment to 5500 by year’s end is looking increasingly unrealistic. The new commander of NATO forces in Afghanistan, General John Nicholson, warned in January the situation was deteriorating, and vowed to make a new assessment of counter-terrorism requirements. This is amid concern of the rise of the so-called Islamic State group in the east and a resurgence of al-Qa’ida in the south.

Beyond the troop commitment, the US can assist by authorising coalition airstrikes against the Taliban, not just al-Qa’ida and Islamic State. This was recommended recently by General David Petraeus and would provide much needed air support to stretched Afghan troops.

The political transition is the second challenge. Difficulty to agree on key appointments between President Ashraf Ghani and his chief executive Abdullah Abdullah has contributed to the frail security situation and hampered economic reform. Critical positions such as defence minister and intelligence chief remain vacant, and economic reforms promised 18 months ago have not moved beyond proposal stage.

An emboldened Taliban has attacked the symbols of democratic governance and institutions, with an attack on parliament last year while politicians were in session, and recently sabotaging powerlines in the north of the country, leading to electricity shortages in the capital. Coalition partners can support Afghanistan through the appointment of a special envoy or interlocutor to help bridge the gap between power centres in the Afghan government, similar to the role played by US ambassador Zalmay Khalilzad in 2001.

The third challenge is the drive by the US, China, Pakistan and Afghanistan to set out a road map for peace talks between the Afghan government and the Taliban. It is legitimate to ask whether a movement that is intent on undermining progress and democratic governance, that brazenly kills journalists and has no regard for women’s rights or plurality of opinion, should be allowed to participate in the Afghan political process. This sentiment is shared by the large majority of Afghans.

An ATR survey conducted in 2014 found only 7 per cent of Afghans polled were in favour of Taliban rule. If anything, appeasing the Taliban will likely embolden it to provide further shelter to al-Qa’ida, Haqqani network and other terrorists, and bring with it the prospect of another protracted civil war, and a real risk of spill-over into Central and South Asia.

The Taliban and its backers need to be held accountable for the countless atrocities it has committed on Afghan and Pakistan soil, and against civilians on both sides. The US should designate the movement as a terrorist organisation — something long overdue — and its leaders and financiers should be indicted before the International Criminal Court for war crimes and crimes against humanity.

Afghanistan is at a crossroads and we cannot allow for the situation to just deteriorate without taking appropriate measures to safeguard the gains of the past 14 years. We simply cannot allow for the dreams of Azizi and the other young lives lost in the terrorist attack of January 20 to be shattered.