Javed Iqbal
If the Afghanistan incumbent ruler has shunned exporting terrorism, honored their commitment made with the international community at time of 2021 Doha accord and focused on internal issues instead of playing in hands of foreign handlers ,then no one will be asking the question what Afghan Taliban five years rule has brought for the world, its neighbors and internationally ?
After five years in power, Afghanistan has become the only country on the planet that has barred girls’ education ( 2.4 million girls, UNESCO report). Only country harbouring international terrorists, i.Al Qaeda,TTP, BLA and Daesh. (38th UN Monitoring Report) and has become a hub of terrorism. On press freedom, an international watchdog has documented more than 20 national directives and numerous provincial decrees that have systematically dismantled press freedom in Afghanistan.
What began as administrative censorship has evolved into an entrenched system of intimidation, silencing criticism, controlling political discourse, erasing women from media and criminalising independent journalism. (Reporters Without Borders RSF 10 Aug 2026)
On foreign policy issues and relationships with neighbours, the story is not much different from the above one. The Kabul policy of state sponsorship of terrorism is the sole reason for a tense relationship with Islamabad.
The Afghan Taliban government has failed miserably on all fronts: *economy, diplomacy, law and order, relations with neighbours, women’s rights, media freedom*, and most importantly, the agreements made with the international community, including the commitment to prevent Afghan soil from being used for terrorism.
Various opposing groups have risen against the Afghan Taliban.
Resistance against the Taliban regime is growing across the country due to increasing oppression of its own people, political, ethnic and social repression, and continuous violation of basic human rights. Operations by anti-Taliban resistance organisations are intensifying in various Afghan provinces, while public resistance is also expanding.
The Afghanistan United Front has already announced the start of nationwide resistance operations against the Taliban regime. Under the leadership of Gul Muhammad Pahlawan, a new armed group *”Liberation Front”* was also formally announced, which is being seen as a further expansion of anti-Taliban resistance forces.
Resistance operations against the Taliban regime are ongoing in *Panjshir, Andarab, Baghlan, Takhar, Kunduz, Badakhshan, Kabul, Balkh, and Herat, among other areas. The Taliban regime’s political, ethnic and social repression, violation of basic human rights, and policy of silencing dissent are the main reasons for the rise in public resistance.
The Afghanistan National Resistance Front (NRF) and allied resistance groups have issued a clear warning to all foreign terrorists under the Taliban regime’s patronage to leave Afghanistan immediately. The resistance front made it clear that foreign fighters who refuse to leave will be treated as enemy combatants and targeted. The resistance leadership reiterated that Afghanistan belongs only to the Afghan people and no kind of foreign military intervention or presence of terrorist elements is acceptable.
This warning comes at a time when resistance operations against the Taliban regime are increasing across the country, further strengthening the impression that Afghanistan under Taliban control has become a safe haven for international terrorist organisations.
The Taliban regime has turned Afghanistan into a launchpad, safe haven, and operational centre* for global terrorist groups. The 38th UN Analytical Support and Sanctions Monitoring Team has repeatedly reported the presence of *Al-Qaeda, Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), ISIS-K, ETIM/TIP, IMU* and other terrorist groups in Afghanistan, with up to *13,000 foreign terrorists* reportedly active in the country.
Instead of dismantling the terrorist structure, the Taliban regime is providing an enabling environment for terrorist organisations for recruitment, training, financial support, and planning regional and cross-border attacks, a blatant violation of its international commitment that Afghan soil would not be used against any other country.
According to the resistance front, the Taliban’s rigid and distorted interpretation of Sharia, political exclusion, continuous violation of basic rights, ethnic discrimination, and worsening humanitarian situation are causing growing public unrest. As a result, a large number of Afghan citizens are voluntarily joining resistance groups.
The statement further said that anti-Taliban resistance is no longer limited to Panjshir and Andarab. It has now spread to Badakhshan, Baghlan, Takhar, Kunduz, Kapisa, Balkh, Herat, and Kabul, reflecting that the biggest challenge to the Taliban regime is now emerging from within Afghanistan, where people are rejecting the presence of foreign terrorists and extremist governance.
The Afghan Taliban government has completely failed to establish state authority in Afghanistan, mainly due to its growing unpopularity.
The international community, especially Western countries, must move beyond statements and take practical steps, including *the recovery of billions of dollars’ worth of weapons left behind by the US in Afghanistan.
Practical steps must also be taken to hold the Afghan government accountable for violating the Doha Agreement.
Unfortunately, over the past five years the international community has only tried to contain the Afghan government’s illegal actions through a policy of “resistance, which has failed miserably. Questions about the policy of double standards on Taliban crimes and criminal silence on violations of agreements are now being asked openly. Why is the international community not seeing the business of terrorism being run from Afghan soil? Afghanistan has now become a hub for international terrorists, a fact confirmed by the UN and other organisations in multiple reports.
The writer is a freelance columnist and contributes regularly on issues concerning national security.
