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A spreading scourge

As the suicide bomb attack in Baghlan on November 6 indicates, the rebellion against the government of President Hamid Karzai is spreading to pockets in northern Afghanistan. At least 70 were killed and nearly a hundred wounded when the terrorist launched himself at a parliamentary delegation visiting a newly opened factory. Among the victims were members of the central legislature, village elders, and schoolchildren. Although the Taliban has disclaimed responsibility for the atrocity, there is reason to believe that it did have a hand. It is likely that grievances of a localised nature at first drove disgruntled elements in various provinces to take up arms against the Karzai government. It might also be the case that the cells operating in different areas do not have strong or abiding linkages, a characteristic of the Taliban from its inception to its ouster from power. In this format, local units are allowed a large measure of operational autonomy while a coordinating centre serves as the source for finances, munitions, and training. The intelligence services of several governments are convinced that such a centre is located in and operates out of the Pakistani province of Balochistan. While most of this might be common knowledge, what is new and disturbing is that there are signs that the Taliban has spread its tentacles beyond its traditional strongholds in the south and east of Afghanistan.

The Taliban did suffer a setback recently when its fighters were forced to retreat after advancing to a few kilometres short of Kandahar. However, the extremist outfit might have calculated that it can afford to lose a few battles so long as its overall advance is not checked. In Afghanistan, the campaign against extremists is carried out imaginatively and on several fronts. While reconstruction work might be progressing at a pace slower than expected, the statistics put out by the government and aid agencies are by no means disheartening. But the provision of essential services remains far short of requirements. That cannot serve as any sort of a rationale for the Taliban’s resort to indiscriminate violence. The political opposition, especially the Northern Alliance — or National Front, to go by its new name — has displayed a sense of responsibility in championing the people’s causes through democratic means. The danger is that if the Taliban continues to spread like a plague, adherents of the Front might feel, much as the people of Afghanistan in general do, the need to take up arms to protect themselves.

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