March 6, 2020–In the days following the U.S.-Taliban agreement, violent attacks in Afghanistan show that an intense battle is underway for control of the country.
On Saturday, U.S. representatives signed an agreement with and the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan, otherwise known as the Taliban, in Doha, Qatar. The deal promises to “bring peace to Afghanistan.”
But in the week that followed, attacks by Taliban forces and other gunmen shed blood of Afghan troops, government officials and civilians. On Wednesday, the Taliban conducted a wave of attacks across the country. And today, an attack by gunmen against the Afghan government killed at least 27 people and wounded 29 others.
Talks between the Afghan government and Taliban are scheduled to start on Tuesday, March 10.
Today, U.S. President Donald Trump admitted that the Taliban may regain power in Afghanistan. “Countries have to take care of themselves,” Trump told reporters at the White House. Asked about the possibility of the Taliban seizing power, Trump said it’s “not supposed to happen that way, but it possibly will.”
The Deal
Trump lauded the deal he made with the Taliban, saying it “secures important commitments that are necessary to finally end the conflict in Afghanistan.”
Under the terms of the Feb. 29 Joint Declaration, the U.S. government agreed to withdraw all forces from the country within 14 months. Meanwhile, the Taliban agreed it would not use “the soil of Afghanistan” against “the security of the United States and its allies.”
The deal followed 18 months of negotiations.
“The victors of the war are no one,” Afghan President Ashraf Ghani told CNN on Sunday. “The victors of the peace are going to be the people of Afghanistan.”
War’s Tally
In the 18-year war, about 3,000 American and allied troops and more than 100,000 Afghan civilians lost their lives.
For the United States, the war cost about $1 trillion, according to the Financial Times.
War Crimes Investigation
Even as the war-torn country showed signs of continued violence, developments on the international front showed that justice might still be served.
Specifically, on Thursday, the International Criminal Court (ICC) authorized an investigation into possible war crimes by Afghan, Taliban and U.S. forces and intelligence agents.
The investigation comes as an appeals chamber decided unanimously to amend a decision by a lower court, which had previously rejected a prosecutor’s request for an investigation. The appeals court authorized investigations of potential war crimes in Afghanistan dating back to May 2003.
The ICC Prosecutor’s Office found that since examining the situation in Afghanistan since 2006, there is “a reasonable basis to believe” that the following committed crimes against humanity:
- the Taliban and their affiliated Haqqani Network;
- Afghan National Security Forces, the National Directorate for Security, and the Afghan police; and
- U.S. armed forces, members of the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency in secret detention facilities.
Suspected crimes include torture, systematic campaign of intimidation, targeted killings and abductions of civilians, sexual violence and rape. And the crimes went unpunished in “near total impunity” in both Afghanistan and the United States, according to a summary of the prosecutor’s request.
Prosecutor Fatou Bensouda said the ICC investigation is needed “in light of the gravity of the acts committed, and the absence of relevant national proceedings against those who appear to be most responsible.”
The ICC decision gives the prosecutor authority to ask the court to issue summons to appear or arrest warrants against those “believed to be most responsible, no matter who the perpetrator, for alleged atrocity crimes committed.”
The United States is not a member of the ICC. U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo called the decision “breathtaking” and “reckless.”
Others, such as Egyptian political leader Mohamed ElBaradei called it a “breath of fresh air.”
“No one is above the law, and accountability is key to peace and security,” ElBaradei said on Twitter.
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