Afghanistan is moving towards civil war due to factionalism between Taliban, claims former Army Chief

Pankaj Prasad
Lieutenant General Haibatullah Alizai
Lieutenant General Haibatullah Alizai

Lieutenant General Haibatullah Alizai currently lives in the US and has recently launched an initiative to unite Afghans outside the country.

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A former commander of Afghanistan has claimed that due to the division of Taliban into different factions, Afghanistan is once again moving towards civil war. Two years after US forces suddenly left Kabul, Afghanistan is heading towards civil war, according to a former Afghan commander. The Taliban is now rife with factionalism, and the country is increasingly becoming a safe haven for foreign terrorists.

Lieutenant General Haibatullah Alizai said, "I believe that the situation in Afghanistan is very serious and dangerous and it is going in an even more dangerous direction, there could be a civil war again, or there could be division in Afghanistan. You see Afghanistan has been controlled by terrorists in the last two years. Lieutenant General Haibatullah Alizai, who was the Chief of Staff of the Afghan Army when the capital Kabul fell to the Taliban in August 2021, said this in an interview with PTI. Said things.

The number of terrorist organizations is increasing during Taliban rule

Alizai currently lives in the US and recently launched an initiative to unite Afghans outside the country. Expressing his deep dissatisfaction over the current situation in Afghanistan, the former Afghan commander blamed the Biden administration for suddenly leaving Afghanistan and its people at the mercy of the Taliban. He said that the number of terrorist organizations in Afghanistan has increased during the Taliban rule. He alleged that African terrorist groups like Al-Shabab have also established their foothold in Afghanistan and have started training terrorists there. He said, "Everything is happening under Taliban rule in Afghanistan which should not happen."

He said, "This is the situation. Al-Qaeda is active. Daesh is becoming more and more active and a lot of resistance groups are being announced and established against the Taliban regime in different parts, which will definitely make Afghanistan a And will lead to a serious civil war or possible partition (of Afghanistan). Responding to a question, Alizai said that Afghanistan under the Taliban is moving towards becoming a safe haven for terrorists.

Biden administration made a big mistake in Afghanistan: Former military commander

He said, “I think the Biden administration at that time or especially Biden himself has made a big mistake. They had the opportunity to gather more information about Afghanistan and dive a little deeper into the situation in Afghanistan. But this decision was taken so quickly, so quickly and without even thinking deeply about the current situation going on in Afghanistan.

He said, 'However, the Afghans and their administration, intelligence organizations and some organizations like the army also told them that such an anarchy situation could arise. Because we were on the ground and we were watching everything closely. Unfortunately, they never listened to anyone, the administration listened to no one and what is the situation, now you see where things are? "And if they still don't listen after this, I can tell you that Afghanistan is going to be worse than it was before 2001," Alizai warned.

Who is Lieutenant General Haibatullah Alizai?

A native of Helmand province, Alizai trained at the National Police Academy in Kabul and the Defense Academy, the United Kingdom's Advanced Command and Staff Course. Previously serving Afghanistan as a police officer, he focused on internal investigations for insider threats and supported humanitarian efforts for individuals in custody. After being transferred to the National Security Directorate, he was commendably promoted to colonel and served as Director of Operations for the Joint Special Operations Coordination Center. Given his success following this, he was asked to join the Ministry of Defense as Director General of Military Operations, where he consolidated organizations that previously operated in a silo. Building on the success, he commanded the 209th Northern Army Corps to suppress the Taliban's northern offensive amid the Afghanistan War, later serving as the Afghan Special Operations Corps commander.

As Chief of General Staff of the Afghanistan Ministry of Defense from 11–15 August 2021, Alizai provided critical leadership to manage the Taliban crisis. He continued to lead from Hamid Karzai International Airport until the US military airlift ceased. According to Alizai, the Taliban does not control the entire country. He said that the Taliban is in worse condition. There are four factions in the Taliban: Kandahari Taliban, Helmandi Taliban; The Haqqani group, and those who went to Doha and negotiated with the US.

He said, 'Everyone is claiming power and some groups inside the Taliban are not happy with the decisions being taken by Mullah Hibatullah Akhundzada and they are privatizing everything for themselves and only for the people in their circle. On the other hand, Maulvi Mansour, who is known as the Helmand Taliban, has mostly been killed in the last two years. He said that the fighting within the Taliban is giving Daesh an opportunity to expand its foothold inside Afghanistan.