On Tuesday, December 29, 2020, the Afghan Institute for Strategic Studies (AISS) held an online roundtable discussion on "Political Assassinations: Why and what should be done?" Gen. Jawed Kohistani, military affairs analyst; Bilal Sarwary, independent scholar/Aghan journalist; Dr. Diva Patang, political analyst; Gen. Zahir Azimi, military affairs analyst; and Asadullah Nadim, political and military affairs analyst, were the speakers of the program. The event was moderated by Hadi Ebrahimi, journalist.
In his opening speech, General Zahir Azimi said that the Doha agreement and the start of negotiations have intensified the war and that is the reason targeted assassinations have increased in Afghanistan. He added that the peace talks in Doha have led to the spread of violence, insecurity, and have brought new dimensions such as assassinations. He added that the Taliban was not happy despite gaining a lot of points in negotiations with the United States. Now, assassinations have intensified to put more pressure.
Jawid Kohistani said the Taliban had stopped car bomb attacks on cities in accordance with the Doha agreement, but they are attacking security forces and the civilian casualties have increased. He said the president had retired some officers from the intelligence and interior ministries of the defense and interior ministries, exacerbating the security problem. He believes that less money is spent on intelligence, due to corruption in government offices.
Diva Patang stated that the aim of the recent killings was due to the weakness of the Afghan government's intelligence and to show the foreign intelligence active in Afghanistan. Afghan security and intelligence officials are unprofessional, there are problems in sharing information among the various intelligence sectors. He believes that the Taliban want the educated to flee and young people who study abroad and have modern ideas should not return to the country.
Bilal Sarwari said that the purpose of the targeted assassinations was to psychologically and mentally hit the common people. In a recent visit to Helmand, he said that in Helmand, all school locations are home to the battlefield. He said the killing of educated people, human rights and women's rights activists and reporters was a major blow to Afghanistan's human resources.
Assadullah Nadim stated that those who were assassinated recently were elites. He said elitism was a military tactic and the Taliban had chosen killings as their tactic. He added that the country's elites represent democracy, and recent killings is an attack on the entire system and values of the period. He also said that the president should enforce the law and not allow intelligence energy to be wasted.