We, at UAPM, strongly condemn the cowardly act of terrorism (the attack on the Parliament), which once again resulted only in the casualties of innocent civilians. In the first quarter of 2015, 650 civilians have been the victim of the conflict, considerably higher than the deaths in the same period last year.
Fortunately, the attack was neutralised by the Parliamentarian and other Security Forces. Notably, Sergeant Eisa Khan was one of the soldier who claim to have shot dead (’Taq chapa’) 6 of the 7 attackers. His act of heroism has been recognised by President Ashraf Ghani and other prominent government officials.
Without a doubt, Eisa Khan’s act of valour should be recognised and celebrated but we should not forget that we have more than 150,000 Eisa Khans fighting daily for our country. Eisa Khan is a model for our country that represents the whole ANSF, those who face almost certain death in their daily duties. We, at UAPM, appreciate the service of every one of the security forces and we believe that it is the duty of every Afghan to encourage and appreciate the service of our security forces. Our Army are in need of high morale in these tough situations. The least we, the civilians, can do to show that we appreciate their service is to verbally announce it if we encounter any member of the ANSF.
If, God forbid, the terrorist have been able to enter the Parliament, we probably would have been deprived of the Parliament within hours. We hope that this have been a wakeup call for the MPs and wish that they strive to work for the betterment of the ANSF: giving them reasonable wages, supporting the families of those who have perished serving the country, providing them better equipment, better intelligence etc.
Every Little Helps…
What can those based in UK do?
Although we are not physically in close proximity to the Security Forces, there are actions we can take to support our National Security Forces in Afghanistan. For instance, we can encourage more foreign aid to the country. We can lobby our MPs by writing to them and meeting with them to encourage them to support proposals which supports more monetary aid to Afghanistan. This can be used to improve our Security Forces who will be able to fend of attacks by the terrorists and take a full control of the country.
Our people are sick and tired…
Our people are sick and tired of the conflict. No one can get on with the daily lives without the passive fear of being attacked. Children cannot go the Schools, adults cannot go work. Mothers worried, sisters anxious and fathers concerned. Our government should look for a diplomatic solution for this conflict, 35 years of fighting have done us no good. We want a solution which has no bullets, no Kalashnikovs and no IEDs.
Rahmanullah Hayat
Afghan Youth Movement UK (AYMUK) 