Kabul is increasingly coming under deadly terrorist attacks. On Thursday, a suicide bomber targeted a gathering marking the 38th anniversary of Soviet invasion of Afghanistan at a Shia cultural centre, leaving at least 41 people dead and 84 others injured. The IS claimed responsibility for the massacre. The Taliban issued a statement saying they had nothing to do with it. Although they have been involved in several suicide bombings in Kabul and other parts of the country, Taliban are not known to target Shias. A few days earlier, a suicide bomber had killed six civilians as they walked near an Afghan intelligence agency compound. That attack was also claimed by the IS. Earlier in October, it took credit for carnage at a Shia mosque that claimed 50 lives. Taking advantage of the ceaseless conflict and chaos, the IS, involved in several other acts of terrorism in the Afghan capital, has been trying to strengthen its foothold in that country, yet the government has long been in denial about its presence in that country.

Both the Afghan government and the US continue to blame Pakistan for their failures inside Afghanistan, accusing this country of providing safe havens to the Haqqani network. In a recent article, he wrote for The New York Times, US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson repeated the allegation saying "that country [Pakistan] cannot become a safe haven for terrorists, as it was in the days before the Sept 11 attacks." The blame game is not going to help anyone but the terrorists. As regards the Haqqanis having sanctuaries here, independent observers point out that 43 percent of Afghanistan is either controlled by the Taliban or is under their influence. A report issued last October by a US watchdog agency, Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction, also noted that in the previous six months, despite an increase in US air strikes the Taliban had increased their gains. Which suggests the Haqqanis do not really need sanctuaries in Pakistan. The US strategy of relying on air strikes to defeat the Taliban, as this report confirms, is not working, will not work.

This war cannot be won by dropping bombs from the air. Neither suicide bombers nor the Taliban fighters operate from well-established bases that air strikes can destroy. There is no way, as Pakistanis know all too well, to stop a suicide bomber once he sets out on an evil mission. They have sympathizers and facilitators among the people. The Afghan government, therefore, needs to improve the performance of its intelligence agencies, and the US to stop threatening to take "unilateral action", air strikes, against alleged Haqqani network sanctuaries on this country's soil. That can only make a bad situation worse. Instead of pointing the finger at Pakistan for their troubles both the Kabul government and the US would be wise to seek cooperation with Pakistan as well as other neighbouring countries directly or indirectly affected by the conflict in that war-torn country.

Copyright Business Recorder, 2017