PanARMENIAN.Net - On March 11, 2012 a U.S. officer left his military unit and shot 16 civilians in the Panjwai district of Afghanistan’s Kandahar province. Among the dead were 8 children, 4 women and 4 elderly men. The youngest victim of the night slaughter was only two years old.

U.S. authorities blamed U.S. Army Staff Sergeant Robert Bales, 38, for this assault saying he might have some mental disorder.

Affront to Afghan bodies, disrespect to their religious feelings and shooting of civilians will indeed strengthen the Taliban positions that saw only decreasing public popularity over the past years.

However, the British appeared to be far worse. Afghanistan's national police officer claimed that a representative of the British intelligence brought at least 15 suicide bomber “belts” to Kabul.

“On April 20, I was on duty at Kabul airport customs terminal; I witnessed a British intelligence officer who, along with three British militaries tried to get away with a rather large box delivered to Kabul by ISAF plane, with no customs inspection. I knew this officer by sight since he was a frequent visitor at Kabul airport. I asked the British military to show their cargo documents; they refused to do it. When I persisted in my request, they said I had no right to demand anything from them since they enjoyed diplomatic immunity. When I told them my boss’s order bans me from allowing cargo out without examination, a squabble emerged between us. I ordered my assistants never permit the British vehicle out of the terminal gates until I contacted my boss. At this moment, one of the British militaries put his gun against the chest of a police officer in an attempt to open the gates. The other police officer seized the box handle and pulled it. The box fell on the ground and flung open. I was amazed to discover that it contained at least 15 and maybe even 20 “belts” for suicide bombers.

The British intelligence officer rushed to drag the box away and called someone on the mobile phone; after this, he started threatening us with his gun. In less than two minutes, three armoured vehicles with ISAF numbers approached the terminal gates; those inside the cars again threatened us with weapon. We had nothing else to do but move away, while the British car left the gates.

My boss called my in the evening saying I had to visit the military prosecutor’s office the following day for explanations. I realized this meant death to me, and instead of going to work, I took my family, rented a car and left for Pakistan through Turham the following morning,” the source says.

The officer of Afghanistan’s national police also said the British intelligence provides the Talibans with explosives required to make suicide bombers’ “belts”, trying to veil under the anti-terrorism fight. Yet a question emerges as to how many “belts” the British brought to Kabul and other Afghan regions?

The future of Afghanistan after ISAF withdrawal is easy to predict; Afghans are quite experienced in turning their country into an utter chaos. However, the U.S. and its allies seem to show little concern over this. They will support the forces that provide uninterrupted drug traffic from Afghanistan; it is time to call a spade a spade. Meanwhile, all talks on training the local police officers for peace are nothing but an attempt to gild the pill. As soon as the Afghan people are left to themselves, another civil war will flare up in the region. Actually, it never ceased since 1979.

Pashtuns, Tajiks, Uzbeks, and Hazāras fail to come to terms with each other; first, due to fundamental internal differences and also the Islam branches they practice, and second, because key players will never allow them come to agreement. Sunni Pashtuns, the majority of Taliban, will massacre all Shiite Hazāras unless Iran stands up to protect them in a most decisive move. This will result in a civil war, or rather a local conflict which may then grow into a bigger threat.

Revelations about other “peacekeeping” countries providing the Afghan terrorists with armament are likely to be published shortly. However, it should be reminded that supply of arms to Afghan mujahideen militants started back during Soviet intervention which was nothing but a reckless scheme.

It would be interesting to know what price the suicide bombers paid for the British “aid”, and what share the Afghan officials had in this…?

Karine Ter-Sahakian