An atrocity at an Afghan maternity ward upends the U.S.'s peace plans GlobeDebate
An Afghan policeman keeps watch outside of a hospital which came under attack in Kabul, Afghanistan, on May 13, 2020.Dr. Bina Najeeb grew up during the civil war in Afghanistan, a period of extreme bloodshed and destruction in his country. He graduated from medical school when the fundamentalist Taliban regime was in charge, in the late 1990s. He has served as the one of the country’s finest pediatric surgeons for more than 15 years at the French Medical Institute for Children in Kabul.
While the Taliban has denied it was involved, the Afghan government has blamed the insurgency for these civilian deaths. Ashraf Ghani – whose presidency had itself been troubled after his rival Abdullah Abdullah disputed last year’s election results, with the turmoil culminating in a power-sharing agreement between the two, which was signed last week – ordered his military to switch from an “active defensive” to an “offensive” in their fight against the Taliban.
Regardless of who is to blame for the galling hospital attack – the U.S., for its part, has declared that the Islamic State insurgency, rather than the Taliban, is responsible – the fact remains that in the short period since the deal was signed, the Taliban have not shown resolve in pursuing peace. Despite lofty promises made to the U.S. administration in Doha meetings, the group has done little to reduce the violence perpetrated by their foot soldiers in Afghanistan.
Still, the U.S. seems optimistic that their agreement with the Taliban can be sustained. Seeing that the Islamic State could serve as a convenient mutual enemy, U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo urged the Afghan government and Taliban to work together after the attack to “bring the perpetrators to justice." Even the withdrawal of American troops is likely to continue as scheduled as part of the Taliban peace deal, the Pentagon said on May 15.
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