Afghanistan has been known to be the host of the al-Qaeda terrorist groups, which has claimed responsibility for various terrorist actions, including the September 11 attacks (9/11). For a very long time, Afghanistan has been the center of counterterrorism concerns by the United States and other international counterterrorist organizations. Al-Qaeda has significantly grown over the last two decades, having improved its organizational capital and cohesion, making it stronger. The terrorist group has had a consistent alliance with major armed groups, including the Pakistan insurgent group, the Afghan Taliban, and the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP). A report by the University Of Utah College Of Law established a connection between illegal drug sales and terrorism (Evans, 2017). Afghanistan has a population that is close to 40 million people, with a significant amount of them living as refugees in Iran and Pakistan. Islam is the major religion practiced in Afghanistan, with about 74% of the population living in rural areas and a 24% rate of unemployment. The country’s economy is driven mainly by small scale production of soap, textiles, beverages, and cement, among others.
According to a recent travel advisory by the government of the UK to its citizens, Afghanistan has a high likelihood of hosting terror attacks. Such attacks include lethal attacks targeting the Afghan National Defense and Security Forces (ANDSF), attacks on international political targets, and attacks on civilians, among others. Terrorism in the country and emanating from the al-Qaeda group range from small scale to high-profile attacks. They include explosions in major populated areas, mass gun shootings, and gun attacks against ANDSF. Terrorism in Afghanistan also includes suicide bombers and the use of explosive devices, mainly aiming to kill as many people as possible. Suicide bombers either use vehicles or appear by foot. Additionally, direct fire attacks are characterized by either rocket-propelled grenades or shootings. Other forms of terrorism include violent crimes and kidnappings targeting citizens of specific countries targeted by the terrorist groups. Notably, most of these terrorist attacks target western countries and the United States, triggering the launch of the attacks either on their soil or another country that hosts their citizens. There is a very high risk of a citizen of a western country being kidnapped in Afghanistan than in any other country. The period between 2001 and 2018 has seen over 100 citizens of different western countries being kidnapped in Afghanistan, a majority being British nationals (Wami, 2018). Targets of kidnappings include journalists, tourists, and people working for humanitarian aid. Most travel advisories, especially from the UK, note dangers in closely all parts of Afghanistan, including the Southern part, Northern parts, Eastern, and Western Afghanistan. Notable past incidents of terrorism include attacks on Bamian City Market in November 2020, an attack on a building in Kabul University which claimed 19 civilian lives, an attack on a maternity ward at a Kabul hospital killing 24, and an attack on a police location in Kabul, among others. Terrorist groups also execute attacks on other countries, seeking to cause mass destruction through suicide bombings and launching other forms of explosives.
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There has been an established link between terrorist activities in Afghanistan to drug trafficking. A 2007 UNODC World Drug report valuates Afghanistan’s opium harvest to farmers, Afghan traffickers, and Afghan drug laboratories to be at around 3.1 billion USD. The country also offers a market to about 400 tons of cocaine, which come from Latin American countries with a local valuation of 2 billion USD. It is quite apparent that the Afghanistan drug industry booms and thus the reason why terrorist activities are funded by profits from drug trafficking. According to Evans (2017), a report from the Drug Enforcement Agency valuated 60% of all foreign terror organizations, including al-Qaeda, are funded by drug trafficking. The link between drug business and terrorist attacks direct or indirect involvement. One such involvement is referred to as the marriage of convenience. Marriage of convenience refers to the agreement between drug cartels to terrorist leaders for the terrorist organization to collect taxes and tariffs from the business. There are those terrorist organizations that control certain regions that grow illicit drugs. In such instances, such drug traffickers agree to enter into such agreements to pay tariffs in exchange for political protection from terrorist organizations. Drug traffickers also get the freedom of moving around anywhere within the terrorist organization’s territory for business. Terrorist organizations, in turn, receive money that they use to purchase the equipment they use for attacks. Subsequently, terrorist groups get to agree with drug traffickers to send addictive drugs to targeted countries to weaken them (Chandra, 2020). Continued funding of terrorist activities by drug traffickers makes the war against terrorism quite difficult. Anti-terror organizations have to put more effort into killing the drug business to fight terrorism. It is anticipated that the war against terrorism, especially al-Qaeda and other organizations in Afghanistan, would take longer because of the continued support from the drug business.
In summary, terrorism is a great challenge that hinders international security and political stability in most countries, especially the United States and western countries. Afghanistan is a notable host of the famous al-Qaeda terrorist group and others that have executed multiple terror attacks in the country and outside. Terrorism in Afghanistan occurs in multiple forms, which include shootings, suicide bombs, and kidnappings, among others. The last decade has seen a number of attacks targeting mass destruction of property and killings. There is a significant relationship between terrorism and illegal drug business, with many terrorist organizations receiving direct funding and other forms of indirect support from drug traffickers.
References
Chandra, Y. (2020). Illicit Drug Trafficking and Financing of Terrorism. Journal of Defence Studies , 14 (1-2), 69-91.
Evans, T. (2017, November 6). The Link Between Terrorism and Drug Trafficking . Retrieved from The University of Utah, S.J Quinney College of Law.: https://law.utah.edu/the-link-between-terrorism-and-drug-trafficking/
Wami, N. (2018). Terrorism and Foreign Direct Investment: An empirical analysis of Afghanistan. Kardan Journal of Economics and Management Sciences , 1 (3), 40-59.
