KABUL – Commenting on the claim made by the Iranian military that the UShas provided direct assistance to Daesh in Afghanistan, political analystAhmad Wahid Mozhda told Sputnik that many Afghan politicians and ordinaryAfghans are saying the same thing. According to the observer, the US’slikely goal is to cause problems for the country’s neighbors.

Speaking to Sputnik Dari, Ahmad Wahid Mozhda, a political scientist andformer Mujahedeen commander, explained that many Afghans believe in thepresence of a ‘mysterious foreign hand’ in their country helpingto consolidate Daesh’s position.

“Many members of Afghanistan’s parliament, as well as ordinary citizens,are saying that Daesh terrorists are being brought here by unidentifiedhelicopters. There is a great deal of evidence to support this,” Mozhdasaid. “Afghans believe in a kind of ‘mysterious hand’ working to strengthenDaesh’s positions,” he added.

[image: US soldiers part of NATO patrol during the final day of a monthlong anti-Taliban operation by the Afghan National Army (ANA) in variousparts of eastern Nangarhar province, at an Afghan National Army base inKhogyani district on August 30, 2015]© AFP 2018/ NOORULLAH SHIRZMozhda challenged the US’s long-standing assertion that fighting terror wasits main mission in Afghanistan, and pointed out that in its 17 yearsof fighting, the US has not only suffered significant material andpersonnel losses, but has not been unable to win this war. On the contrary,he noted, the number of terrorist groups operating in Afghanistan has grownexponentially.

“It’s worth keeping in mind that when the US sent its forces to Afghanistanin 2001, their main goal was the destruction of al-Qaeda, which at thatmoment was the only terrorist group in the country. 17 years have passed,and now Afghanistan has over twenty terrorist groups….Why, with the UShaving spent a trillion dollars on this war, and the internationalcoalition losing about 4,000 troops, has the war not ended?…Why did [evena] 150,000-strong international coalition troop presence fail to ensureAfghanistan’s security?”

Mozhda also pointed to the steep rise in drug production in Afghanistansince 2001. “The Americans are saying that drugs fuel terrorism, and that[terrorists] receive income from drug production. Over the past 17 years,there has not been any serious struggle against drug production and drugtrafficking in Afghanistan, even though this serious problem clearlyexists.”[image: An Afghan farmer harvests opium sap from a poppy field in the SurkhRod district of Nangarhar province. (File)]© AFP 2018/ NOORULLAH SHIRZADA

[image: File, In this Aug. 15, 2016 photo, Taliban suicide bombers standguard during a gathering of a breakaway Taliban faction, in the border areaof Zabul province, Afghanistan]© AP PHOTO/ MIRWAIS KHAN,All this, the observer says, “gives rise to a number of questions regardingthe fight against terrorism, which has not been successful in Afghanistan.”

Ultimately, Mozhda indicated that concerns from Iran and other countrieswith the possibility of US intrigue in Afghanistan were fully justified,since unlike the Taliban, which limits its activities to one country, Daeshis bent on destabilizing the entire region. “Unlike the Taliban, who didnot have an international program, Daesh’s goals are to create problemsin neighboring countries, including China or the Central Asian countries.”

In this light, “the goal of supporting terrorism in Afghanistan isto create a threat to the countries of the region – to Iran, Russia andChina, countries which have difficult relations with the USA,” the analystconcluded.[image: Afghan security forces inspect the site of a blast in Jalalabad,Afghanistan]© REUTERS/ PARWI

Last week, Iranian Armed Forces’ Chief of Staff Mohammad Baqeri accusedlink>theUS of transferring Daesh militants from their crumbling caliphateinto Afghanistan. “When the Americans realized that Daesh and [other]terrorist groups lost the territories they had previously occupied in Iraqand Syria, they transported them, by various means, to Afghanistan, and weare now witnessing the explosions, terror and new crimes being committedin Afghanistan,” the officer said.

[image: Lieutenant General Boris Gromov, commander of the restrictedcontingent of Soviet troops in Afghanistan]© SPUTNIKThe Iranian military’s claims follow on similar charges made earlier Russianofficialslink>,as well as remarks late last year by former Afghan President Hamid Karzai,who called Daesh a “tool” used by Washingtonlink> to pursueits broader goals in the region.

Speaking to Sputnik Dari link>, Afghan DefenseMinistry press secretary Dawlat Waziri denied Baqeri’s claims. On thecontrary, he noted, “the Americans help us destroy the Daesh terrorists,as well as other terrorist groups in Afghanistan.” Waziri stressed that theUS military contingent in Afghanistan was crucial to the country’ssecurity, and noted that the US provides valuable training, consultationsand planning assistance to the Afghan military, as well as direct air andground support against the terrorists.