May 9, 2021, 4:12 PM

By: Zahra Mirzafarjouyan

Afghanistan after two decades of US presence

Afghanistan after two decades of US presence

TEHRAN, May 09 (MNA) – Two decades after the US military presence in Afghanistan, the country is still witnessing several explosions in recent days, instead of moving away from insecurity and instability.

Another bloody evening was marked for the people of the Afghan capital on Saturday. Powerful explosions outside Sayed -ul- Shuhada High School in the west of Kabul where many residents are of the Hazara ethnic minority, killed 58 and wounded at least 150 others. Most of the victims were civilians and schoolgirls.

The attack occurred around 4 p.m., as the girls were leaving and the streets were packed with residents preparing for the end of the holy month of Ramadan. A car bomb was detonated in front of the school on Saturday afternoon, and as students rushed out, two more bombs were set off, said Tariq Arian, a spokesman for Afghanistan’s Interior Ministry. 

Afghanistan after two decades of US presence

No one has claimed responsibility for the attack, but the government has blamed the Taliban for the attack. On the other hand, the Taliban have condemned the attack and said they were not involved.

However, the Afghan government continues to insist on its previous position that the Taliban were involved in the incident, with the Afghan Interior Ministry spokesman saying that the similarity of the attack to some of the previous attacks implies that the blast was carried out by the Taliban.

The increasing terrorist acts in Afghanistan in recent days simultaneously with the withdrawal of US troops from the country are suspicious. that it remains to be seen who benefits from these explosions and what they seek.

Afghanistan after two decades of US presence

The people of Afghanistan have been living in the fires of war, violence, lawlessness, homelessness and displacement for 40 years; With the defeat of the Taliban and the US presence in this country in 2001, there were hopes that insecurity would be eradicated or at least reduced.

Afghanistan emerged as a significant US foreign policy concern in 2001, when the United States attacked the country after September 11, 2001, under the pretext of confronting  Al Qaeda and the Taliban.

Afghanistan, as a buffer state between Russia and the Indian Ocean and a transit route for goods from South Asia to Central Asia and Europe, has long been of particular importance in geopolitical theories and been considered by the great powers.

Afghanistan after two decades of US presence

Afghanistan's geopolitical position, including elements such as sectarian internal instability, relative position, landlockedness, and proximity to energy resources, led to the occupation of this country by Britain in 1919, the Soviet Union in 1979, and the United States and NATO since 2001.

The 9/11 attacks came at a time when the United States was at its peak of confidence and was able to dominate the new world order with the collapse of the Soviet Union. The US invasion of Afghanistan created the conditions for the US to materialize its military presence by land to dominate Central Asia, which had been there through its airbases until 9/11. The United States has used the opportunity to prevent any regional alliance between Russia and the region, and to prevent China from advancing west and into Central Asia.

Afghanistan after two decades of US presence

Experience has shown that any country backed by the United States has not been in a good situation, and that poverty, misery, and extremism have grown at an unprecedented rate. The US presence in Afghanistan is fruitful for it in various ways as insecurity continues.

Numerous terrorist attacks and the killing of civilians in Afghanistan by different US-backed terrorist groups are certainly the strategy of the United States and its allies to create insecurity in the region in order to legitimize the military presence in Afghanistan and easy access to its resources in the long run.

Now, two decades after the US presence in the country, on the one hand, it is claimed that US President Joe Biden is in a hurry to end the military presence in Afghanistan, and on the other hand, Washington officials have made this biased comment that without the presence of foreign forces, Afghanistan will fall back into the abyss of war and crisis.

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