US, other nations must ensure safety of their citizens

The death of at least 110 people, including 13 US troops, in Thursday’s bombings near Kabul’s international airport has tragically laid bare the messy evacuation that began after the Taliban captured the Afghanistan capital on August 15. The attacks were certainly not a bolt from the blue – these were on expected lines and should have been pre-empted. It was the deadliest day for the US forces in the war-torn country since August 2011, when 31 personnel were killed as a helicopter was shot down. ‘We will not forgive. We will not forget. We will hunt you down and make you pay,’ US President Joe Biden said in his address from the White House, even as he stuck to the fast-approaching deadline of August 31 for pulling out American troops. His words sounded strikingly similar to those spoken by the then President George W Bush, days after the 9/11 attacks: ‘I will not forget this wound to our country or those who inflicted it’.

It’s a catch-22 situation for the US. Biden’s call for revenge may not only impede the withdrawal but also prompt the Islamic State’s Afghanistan affiliate to launch more attacks in the coming days, thus endangering the lives of hundreds of citizens of the US and other countries who are still stranded there. The US runs the risk of shooting itself in the foot all over again if it pursues the perilous course of retribution. With the Islamic State bent on causing damage to the US as well as the Taliban, various nations have no option but to work in coordination with the Taliban for the safety of their residents.

Several countries, including Spain, Australia and New Zealand, have completed the evacuation process. It’s a race against time for the others, including India. Briefing an all-party meeting on Thursday, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar said the government was committed to ‘full evacuation’ of Indians from Afghanistan. This task needs to be concluded at the earliest, considering the likelihood of more bombings at or around the Kabul airport.

(Tribune, India)