The Answer to your Unasked question...

 

  

Whenever you hear “Afghanistan" on the news, what’s the first thing that comes to your mind? If this was a survey, I am pretty sure a lot of answers would be war or conflict, but I do not dispute the fact that some answers will be different. 

One of the things the country, Afghan is widely known for is conflict. If you watch a lot of American movies centered around war, like me, you’ll know that their warzone is almost always set in Afghanistan.

The question today is WHY?

I mean, why are they often at war? Do you know? Have you ever cared enough to know?

Well, it doesn’t matter where you have pitched your tent, because right now, you are about to find out the root cause of the ongoing Afghan war.

It did not just start from September 11, 2001. Afghanistan had been in constant conflict for 20 years(1979-1999), before the US invasion. It was during the chaos of this 20 years that the Taliban ( radical Islamists) sprang up. They offered security to Afghans who were already tired of fighting the civil war, but they also had their excesses.

They forced their own stern version of Islamic laws and introduced brutal punishments like public executions. Women had to wear head-to-toe burka and men were made to grow beards. That’s not all, they put an end to girl-child education and also banned television, music and cinema.

The Taliban first took control of the capital, Kabul, in 1996 and proceeded to rule most of the country within the space of two years.

But, why am I telling you about the Taliban? 

I am telling you, because they are the opposition in the ongoing Afghan war; one of the big players. This new war started on September 11, 2001, when attacks by Osama Bin Laden, the head of the Islamist terror group, Al-qaeda, killed nearly 3000 people in America. 

After a month, on October 7, 2001, the US launched air strikes against Afghanistan, because the Taliban, Islamic extremists who controlled Afghan and sheltered Osama Bin Laden, refused to hand him over.

The Taliban were removed from power as other countries joined the war. The Taliban movement collapsed and faded into Pakistan although, they didn’t disappear. They were able to resurface through the influences they had in Pakistan and before long, they launched fresh attacks.

After the North Atlantic Treaty Organization(NATO) pulled out their forces in 2014, at the end of the bloodiest year in Afghanistan since 2001, the Taliban began to gain momentum again. They seized territory and launched into various bomb attacks against government and citizens alike.

In 2018, it was discovered that the Taliban are openly active across 70% of Afghanistan. The US and its allies are struggling to keep Afghanistan’s government from collapsing and to end deadly attacks by the Taliban. Recently, the US and the Taliban signed a Peace treaty aimed at putting an end to over 18 years of war.

There you have it people, the root cause of the Afghan war. I hope if you see the question in any examination you will be able to deal out the appropriate answers😂. Jokes aside, it is imperative that you know what's happening outside Nigeria. 

I love seeing your comments, keep them coming🤗.

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Joy_Ande

SOURCE: bbc.com