Civilian casualties and a disregard for public ire

The protection of the lives and properties of citizens is one of the main responsibilities of a government. Governments that fail to fulfill this responsibility don’t have the right to claim they are successful. The National Unity Government has completely failed to deliver in this area since its inception. The security situation has deteriorated with each passing day during the over four years of the government. During the rule of this government, the Taliban took control of the capitals of Kunduz, Farah and Ghazni provinces for the first time after their ouster, and the casualty level of Afghan forces and civilians has reached an alarming level that even the country’s defense minister acknowledges that 1274 Afghan forces have been killed or wounded only in a month.
Although the casualty rate of Afghan forces, who are the country’s guardians, is heartbreaking, they are one side of the war. But the most saddening and worrying thing is the suffering of people who have nothing to do with the war other than merely being the victims of the imposed war. They are the victims solely because there is fighting in their homes and villages. Neither can they prevent the militants from fighting in their villages nor is the government listening to them to stop attacking their residential areas. Afghan people caught between a rock and a hard place fall victim to the ground and air operations of government and foreign forces in villages, and indiscriminate insurgent suicide attacks in cities. Over 30 civilians were killed in joint operations of Afghan and foreign troops in one night, which is on no account justifiable as per any rules of wars.
The government’s indifference towards the issue is as worrisome as the civilian causalities are. Although the government leadership now understands that civilian casualties caused by the operations of government and foreign forces are a driver of the conflict, not only it has not taken any effective preventive measures but has also remained silent on all such incidents. The government leadership, especially the president, has embraced a deadly silence on attacks in Kapisa and Wardak in which civilians, including women and children were killed. The president may be silent to please international troops, but he should not forget the wrath of Afghan people.