After forty years as a largely autonomous British protectorate, Afghanistan became independent in 1919. Since the 1970s, the country has been characterized by civil war as Muslim groups have battled the regime and each other in their attempts for control, often with input from the Soviet Union. Discontent with the rule of local warlords led to the sudden growth of the Taliban in the mid-1990s, which controlled the government from 1996-2001. The Taliban established a strict Islamic state until it was ousted in late 2001 when a US-led multinational force intervened. However, the extremists continued their struggle and heavy fighting against the new internationally-backed regime.
The nationwide conflict between the Taliban and other militant Islamic groups (the Haqqani network, the Hezb-e Islami, and various other groups) on the one hand, and with the government (backed by the NATO-led Resolute Support Mission (RSM), as well as US troops) on the other, continues at the level of a full-scale war, revolving around national power and the orientation of the political system. In less than a decade, military expenditure has increased from 1.66% of GDP to 15.75%, while violence as a whole costs the Afghan economy over 60% of its GDP. Since 2018, the conflict in Afghanistan has been one of the bloodiest in the world. The Uppsala Conflict Data Program estimated nearly 29,000 battle-related deaths in 2019. Ground operations, suicide attacks, and IEDs caused the majority of civilian casualties, with an additional 570,000 people internally displaced in 2021. Violence increased significantly in 2020 during the withdrawal of US troops, based on the February 2020 agreement. According to the Heidelberg Institute for International Conflict Research, civilian deaths reached an all-time high of 1,659; the highest it has been since 2001. The Taliban took over Kabul and increased their range of controlled territory, creating a new government. As international forces attempted to evacuate Afghan and international citizens from the Hamid Karzai International Airport, the Islamic State of the Province Khorasan (ISKP) attacked the airport by suicide bombing and killed 170 people.
Since 2014, there has been a growing concern about a growing IS influence in the country, especially in the region bordering Pakistan, with IS targeting both the government and the Taliban. The intrastate conflict between the Afghan government and the Islamic State continues today in the form of violence against civilians of Kabul.
Peace attempts:
The UN has been an important actor in the conflict in Afghanistan, serving as a third party in negotiations since the 1980s. Extensive talks and several UN resolutions eventually led to the Soviet Union withdrawing from Afghanistan and a peace plan for the county in 1991. However, these peace talks excluded the involvement of the Mujahideen and thus failed to achieve support and legitimacy. As a result, Mujahideen groups refused to participate in subsequent negotiations and heavy fighting erupted in 1992. UN-led meetings with the warring parties in 1994 and 1995 failed to bring an end to the fierce fighting, as did the Organisation of Islamic Conference (OIC) arranged peace talks. When the Taliban movement captured Kabul in 1996 both Pakistan and the UN-brokered peace talks between them and their opposition (a coalition of Mujahideen groups), but no progress was reported. Several attempts at peace talks were attempted prior to the foreign mission that ousted the Taliban in 2001 but to no avail. Since then, massive diplomatic efforts have been initiated by the UN in order to create a stable government for Afghanistan and the Taliban has refused invitations for negotiations.
The UN-led political mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA) began in 2002, to assist the Afghan government in democratic transition and the establishment of the rule of law. In 2003, NATO took the lead in the ISAF mission in Afghanistan, with the primary objective of enabling the Afghan government to provide security and develop new forces to eliminate terrorism. From 2011, responsibility for security was gradually transitioned to Afghan forces, which took the lead in security operations across the country by 2013. The transition process was completed and Afghan forces assumed full security responsibility at the end of 2014. However, NATO member states agreed on a non-combat follow-on mission (the Resolute Support Mission), comprising 2,000 forces and starting in early 2015. The Mission aims to provide further training, advice, and assistance to the Afghan security forces and institutions.
In 2016 the Afghan government signed a ceasefire with Hezb-i-Islami, including an amnesty for its leader. The government also continued talks with Pakistan over the possibility of beginning peace negotiations with the Taliban.
A second agreement was reached on February 29, 2020, in Doha, Qatar to promote inter-Afghan reconciliation and the withdrawal of US troops by May 1, 2021, which was later delayed by US President Joe Biden to September 11. In August 2021, the NATO-led Resolute Support Mission (RSM) ended and the foreign troops withdrew from the country. Following this agreement, peace talks continued between the Afghan government and the Taliban, yet intra-state violence and insurgent attacks increased.
August 30 marked the official end to the 20-year NATO and US military presence in the country. The Taliban asserted control and the former government collapsed, worsening Afghanistan’s humanitarian crisis and increasing the number of refugees and internally displaced people. Current peace talks fail to achieve any form of reconciliation. Peace analysts claim there needs to be greater involvement of local actors, women, and other minority groups in peace talks.
