War in Afghanistan is “Over”– Yet US Troops Remain and Terrorists Thrive

by Alison Basley

The official US combat mission in Afghanistan has been declared over by the Obama Administration since 2014 and the country has largely been out of the media’s radar.

But as the 14th anniversary of Operation Enduring Freedom approaches this month, the Taliban is back making headlines, having successfully overtaken the city of Kunduz on Monday. In addition, the US currently maintains a presence of 6,800 troops assigned with training Afghan forces and an additional 3,000 troops carrying out counterterrorism missions or raids.

On Wednesday, The Washington Post reported that American Special Operations troops and on-the-ground military advisers from the NATO coalition came under fire in their attempt to aid Afghan forces in retaking Kunduz. On Thursday Afghan officials reported that government troops retook Kunduz, but heavy street battles were ongoing and it is unclear how many Taliban escaped and regrouped outside the city.

Currently, the Taliban still controls the southern province of Helmand.

However, the Taliban isn’t the only terrorist group rekindling their insurgency in Afghanistan thanks to the vacuum left by dwindling Western forces and Afghan government corruption and inefficiency.

Here is a breakdown of the other terrorist groups taking advantage of the chaos, keeping in mind they each have offshoots of their own which I won’t detail here. Just know that they are offshooting because they wish to align themselves with either ISIS or the Taliban.

The Haqqani Network: Taliban-aligned militants

Since April, The Haqqani has pressured ANSF and NATO forces with attacks on Kabul and Khost. Senior Afghan officials accuse Pakistan of involvement in these attacks. There are other factions of the Taliban besides Haqqani due to infighting, and they have been conducting attacks on district centers in northern and southern Afghanistan.

ISIS: Anti-taliban, anti-Afghanistan government

ISIS and the Taliban are in competition for territory in Afghanistan. In an open letter sent in June, the Taliban warned Baghdadi not to interfere in Afghanistan. But that same month, ISIS seized territory in areas of Afghanistan formerly controlled by the Taliban. The Taliban later condemned ISIS for releasing a video showing tribal leaders as hostages and later blown up with explosives. But since ISIS has declared control of the Nangarhar province and Taliban infighting has increased, some Taliban have defected to ISIS.  

ISIS’s Wilayat Khorasan now controls seven district centers in the Nangarhar province. On Tuesday, about 500 ISIS fighters attacked several Afghan security force checkpoints in Achin district. A police spokesman said 30 militants were killed and the rest eventually retreated.

A UN report has concluded that “The number of groups and individuals who are openly declaring either loyalty to or sympathy with ISIL continues to grow in a number of provinces in Afghanistan.” Sightings of groups “with some form of ISIL branding” or sympathy have been reported in 25 of Afghanistan’s 34 provinces.

Al-Qaeda: Pro-Taliban, anti-ISIS, anti-Afghanistan government

The US has been killing senior al-Qaeda leaders and military commanders in several airstrikes in eastern Afghanistan since the end of 2013. As late as August 2014, the US State Department has confirmed the existence of al-Qaeda-linked training camps in Afghanistan. In the latest issue of its official magazine, the Taliban flaunted its support from al-Qaeda. On August 13th, 2015, Al Qaeda leader Ayman al-Zawahiri pledged his group’s allegiance to the Afghan Taliban.

The director of the Defense Intelligence Agency, Lieutenant General Vincent R. Stewart, warned during congressional testimony in February that al-Qaeda “also will likely try to expand its limited presence in eastern Afghanistan … in the face of continued [counterterrorism] pressure from Pakistan” and withdrawing Western forces.

So in this kind of chaotic, fractious environment, what can the Pentagon possibly hope to gain from another delay in troop reductions in Afghanistan?

Defense secretary Ashton Carter claims that he wants to “make sure this progress sticks.” But with provinces continuing to be contested between the beleaguered and scandal ridden Afghan forces and terrorists, it is unclear what Ashton considers “progress.” And if US and coalition forces succeeded in ousting the insurgents and scaling back ISIS, once again, how long would they stay?