Critics See ‘No Change’ on Battlefields Despite Recent Reshuffles

Two lawmakers and military experts on Friday raised their deep apprehensions over the Taliban’s continued advances in various regions of the country, saying there has been no change on the ground despite the recent reshuffles in the country’s security entities.

A month ago, President Ashraf Ghani announced the appointment of Gen. Bismillah Mohammadi as acting minister of defense, Gen. Abdul Sattar Mirzakwal as acting minister of interior and Gen. Mohammad Wali Ahmadzai as Chief of Army Staff.

MPs argued that 70 districts, 6 customs and border towns were fallen to the Taliban since the appointment of new security chiefs over the last month.

“It would be quite difficult for them (new security officials) to bring a sudden change. These discussions should have started at least one year or one and half years ago,” said Rahmatullah Nabil, the former head of the NDS.

“There has been no positive change on the ground with the arrival of these officials due to the large intensity of the war,” said MP Mir Haidar Afzali.

“The Presidential Palace major mistake is in terms of policy making and now only the people pay the price,” said MP Mohammad Azim Kibrzani.,

Military experts said there is a need for unity and better coordination within the nation’s security agencies and in the leadership level to fix the fragile security situation.

But officials from the Ministry of Interior Affairs and the Ministry of Defense said security forces managed to retake 20 districts from the Taliban since the appointment of the acting defense and interior minister and that there were better mobilization of forces in the fight against the insurgents.

“They suddenly started fighting in 400 points across the country. In some cases, there were negligence or issues weren’t addressed and then there were some tactical retreats,” said Abdul Sattar Mirzakwal, acting minister of interior.

“We tried to remobilize and support. We have identified the priorities, we will use all available resources to defend the people, the cities and the districts where we are deployed now,” said Mohammadi.