The end of the former Soviet Union occupation of Afghanistan in 1989 led to lingering factional fighting and eventually to the U.S.-led invasion in the one of the world poorest countries on October 7, 2001.
With the invasion of the U.S.-led Coalition forces in Afghanistan which toppled Taliban fanatic regime and induction of new administration in the war-torn country, the ray of hope had raised among Afghans for lasting peace in their land.
Nevertheless, their hope for bright future has been fading as still the increasing militancy and security incidents have largely hampered their life.
With the invasion of ex-USSR to Afghanistan in 1979, the exodus of Afghans began forcing over 5 million people leave their homeland for safer places, mostly in the neighboring states of Pakistan and Iran, while the U.S.-led invasion enabled them to return home.
Over 3.5 million Afghan refugees, hereby, have returned home as the collapse of Taliban regime in late 2001. However, the process of repatriation has slowed down mostly due to security concerns and poverty in the country.
Interestingly, a considerable number of former refugees who returned over the past couple of years have begun remigration citing unemployment, security problems and poverty at home.
Despite successive invasions and international community's involvement in Afghanistan over the past three decades, little change has been seen in the field of security and living condition of Afghans.
It was December 1979 that over 100,000 former Soviet Union troops invaded Afghanistan under the pretext of defending socialism and rooting out militants while the situation today is little different than 30 years ago.
Today, over 70,000-strong NATO-led International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) and the U.S.-led Coalition forces have been stationed in Afghanistan to stabilize security in this insurgency-plagued country.
Nevertheless, these UN-mandated troops have failed to bring about peace and stability in the war-torn country though it had ousted the Taliban and al-Qaida hierarchy from power.
Like the invading forces of the former Soviet Union, the U.S.-led soldiers in several cases during military operations against militants have killed civilians.
"Killing Afghans by their supporters in fact is the repetition of history. The Soviets also used to kill us under the excuse of defending us against west-backed mercenaries, while today the U.S-led troops kill our people under similar pretext," said a 62-year-old man from eastern Khost province.
Besides infuriating locals, the continued mistake has prompted Afghan President Hamid Karzai to denounce harming non-combatants and called on U.S. leadership to avoid civilian casualties in war on terror over and over again.
Continued failure to wipe out insurgents and strengthen security, the United States has decided to bolster military presence by sending up to additional 30,000 troops to Afghanistan in 2009, with mostly of them deployed to riot southern and eastern region.
Although there have been achievements in several fields particularly in the field of communication, road building and health, security has remained a major concern for Afghans and international community.
More than 5,000 people with some 2,000 of them innocent civilians were killed mostly in air strikes by international troops last year in Afghanistan.
The Afghan President who has been fed up with repeated killing of civilians by the international troops over the past seven years, told a gathering of tribal elders in Khost province weeks ago to convene a Jirga or Grand Assembly to take decision about the presence of international troops in the country if they continue to harm non-combatants.
Source:Xinhua
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