US Government’s Dangerous Gamble in South Asia
Abbas Hashemite, New Eastern Outlook, January 30, 2025 ─
The United States’ hasty and immature withdrawal from Afghanistan, followed by a swift Taliban* takeover of Kabul, raised solemn questions about regional stability and peace. Recent reports of huge US funding and its indirect supply of weapons to the Afghan Taliban* have made the US withdrawal more suspicious.
Regional Instability and the Threat of Terrorism
These weapons are now at the disposal of different terrorist groups involved in conducting terrorist activities in the neighboring countries
Terrorist activities in the country have surged in the past three years to an unprecedented level. More than 900 Pakistani civilians and security personnel have been killed in terrorist attacks since the Taliban* takeover in neighboring Afghanistan, leading to rising escalation between the two sides. Pakistan is not the only regional country affected by the terrorist organizations using the Afghan soil. Tajikistan and other Central Asian states are also concerned about the sanctuaries of terrorists in Afghanistan. In January 2021, Emomali Rahmon, President of Tajikistan, proposed the establishment of a security belt around Afghanistan. The General Secretary of the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS), Sergey Lebedev, also supported the establishment of this security belt to address the growing threats posed by these groups. He stated, “We hope that the work of this group will aid in neutralizing the regional situation impacted by international terrorist activities, drug and arms trafficking, along with illegal migration.”
The Impact of US Withdrawal and Weapon Proliferation
The country has always been a haven for terrorist groups. However, the NATO weapons left by the US army after its reckless and hasty withdrawal from Afghanistan have made them more lethal. The US army left behind more than $7.1 bn worth of weapons in the Taliban government’s hands. It included a huge amount of ground vehicles, and 316000 weapons – including 26000 heavy weapons, along with significant amounts of ammunition, rockets, shoulder-fired grenade launchers, night vision goggles, bombs, sniper rifles, etc. Reportedly, these weapons are now at the disposal of different terrorist groups involved in conducting terrorist activities in the neighboring countries. Various videos show that TTP used American guns and night vision goggles to conduct terrorist attacks on the Pakistan army and police. Iftikhar Firdous, Khorasan Diary’s editor, stated, “The proliferation of such arms has not only made it difficult to combat terror networks regionally, the night vision equipment, in particular, is used to target Pakistani security personnel and police on a daily basis.”
The withdrawal agreement between the US and the Taliban leadership was signed in February 2020. The US announced that it would withdraw all its forces from the country by 1st May 2021. However, the Biden administration delayed this withdrawal to August 2021. Despite having ample time, leaving behind a colossal number of weapons in the hands of enemies is baffling. In addition, the United States has provided a total of $21 billion in aid to the Taliban government in Afghanistan since the latter’s takeover. This has sparked a serious debate among analysts about the United States’ intentions for regional stability in South Asia. The procurement of these weapons by terrorist organizations like Al-Qaeda, TTP, and ISIS was obvious. Therefore, it would not be fallacious to think that the US systematically and intentionally left weapons in Afghanistan to destabilize the region.
Russia and China are the two significant regional powers that challenge and jeopardize the United States’ global hegemony. Their soft image amongst the developing world has provided them a significant rise on the global stage. China’s Belt and Road Initiative has expanded its influence to three continents. The rise of BRICS and the de-dollarization campaign has added to the increasing influence of Russia. Meanwhile, the United States is struggling to maintain its influence over the globe. The Biden administration’s support of Israel’s war crimes and genocide in Gaza has further accelerated the decline of the US hegemony around the globe.
The rise of these two powers has left the United States with no other option than to destabilize the region. No country can become a superpower unless its surrounding region is peaceful and stable. The US’s premature withdrawal from Afghanistan and leaving behind such a significant amount of weapons to the exposure of terrorist organizations seem to be a part of the United States’ strategy. Supporting and funding terrorist organizations, directly or indirectly, has been an old strategy of the US establishment. The US Army has also been involved in different war crimes in Iraq, Afghanistan, Syria, and Vietnam in the past. Although it is impossible to retrieve these weapons from the Afghan Taliban* and terrorist organizations operating from Afghanistan, the regional countries need to engage the Afghan government. Russia and China, being regional and global superpowers, can use their diplomatic leverage over the Taliban government to pressure them to stop the terrorist groups from using Afghan soil to conduct terrorist activities in the neighboring countries.
*-banned in Russia