KABUL – The conclusions of the US’s Afghanistan policy review, particularly its recognition that the war against the Taliban is a regional problem, were welcomed by the Afghan government yesterday.
Violence in Afghanistan is at its highest level since US and Afghan forces drove the Taliban from power in 2001, and Nato-led troops are locked in a stalemate with insurgents in south and east Afghanistan, along the border with Pakistan.
“We particularly welcome the recognition of the regional aspect of the problem in Afghanistan and, specifically, recognition that the al-Qaeda threat is mainly emanating from Pakistan,” Afghan presidential spokesman Humayun Hamidzada said.
“We also welcome the increased focus on supporting the Afghan National Security Forces to almost double in size and also the issue of focus on development for both Afghanistan and Pakistan,” Mr Hamidzada added.
Some analysts in Kabul looked favourably on the strategy review’s emphasis on regional engagement, and said the acknowledgement that Pakistan’s border areas were the main source of the Taliban- and al-Qaeda-led insurgency was long overdue.
“The best thing in this strategy is that it includes the whole region,” Nassrullah Stanakzai, analyst and lecturer in political science at Kabul University, said.
“After seven years the United States has recognised that Afghanistan is not the base of terrorism . . . The al-Qaeda training camps are being led from Pakistan,” Dr Stanakzai added.
Some politicians criticised the additional troops earmarked in the strategy, and said military efforts were trumping the importance of providing enough humanitarian aid to relieve poverty in Afghanistan.
“Do not focus on troops, because as long as their number increases, humanitarian aid and assistance will be ignored and undermined,” Shukria Barakzai, a member of parliament, said.
President Hamid Karzai has often criticised Pakistan for not doing enough to fight the Taliban and al-Qaeda cells on its own side of the border, causing tension between the two countries.
Russian president Dmitry Medvedev said Russia would help international efforts to stabilise Afghanistan, but believed that the country could not be ruled by outside forces.
“It is impossible to rule Afghanistan with the aid of the [Nato] alliance; it is impossible to rule Afghanistan from abroad; Afghanistan should find its own path to democracy,” Mr Medvedev said in an interview with the BBC.
The Soviet Union invaded Afghanistan in 1979, pulling out a decade later after losing thousands of troops fighting mostly western-backed Afghan guerrillas, many of whom later turned against the United States.
Russia says it will not send troops to Afghanistan but is ready to discuss additional supply routes for US-led forces, to help strengthen Afghanistan’s army and to supply intelligence.
The UN special envoy to Afghanistan applauded the new US Afghan strategy for putting more emphasis on building up civilian institutions.
“I welcome the stronger emphasis on the institutions on the civilian side,” envoy Kai Eide said. “One of my main priorities has been civilian capacity, institution building. In that respect I welcome the greater balance between the military and civilian sides.
An Afghan army soldier shot dead two US servicemen and wounded a third before killing himself in northeast Afghanistan yesterday, the US military said. The Afghan fired at the US soldiers, killing one and wounding two others, one of whom died later.