Context

Attack on gurdwara underlines that the US-Taliban deal has brought Afghanistan no respite.

The futility of US-Taliban deal highlighted

• The attack on a gurdwara in Kabul, in which 25 people were killed, has shown that the coronavirus may well be vanquished by science, but human beings will continue to inflict barbarity upon each other.
• Within hours, it was claimed by the Islamic State, which later also said it had carried it out in revenge for Kashmir.
• The deal not leading to peace: If there were still doubts left on this score, it must be clear after this attack that the US-Taliban deal was not an arrangement to return Afghanistan to peace.

Why the attack matters for India?

• The gurdwara attack was the first strike after the agreement claimed by the IS.
• A provision in pact: Under the pact, the Taliban have committed themselves to eliminate the Islamic State from Afghanistan.
• Yet to start honouring commitment: If the IS claim is true, the Taliban have yet to begin honouring that commitment.
• India’s reaction: Appearing to hint at something more sinister, the ministry of external affairs called the attack “diabolical” and condemned the “perpetrators and their backers”, a formulation usually reserved for attacks suspected to have emanated from or to have the backing of Pakistan.
• Connection of attack with India: The Taliban’s operational leadership is now in the hands of Sirajuddin Haqqani of the Haqqani group, which has been blamed for several attacks on Indian targets, including the 2008 Indian Embassy bombing in Kabul.
• The Taliban have denied having anything to do with the gurdwara attack, and Pakistan has condemned it strongly.
• The question over IS in Afghanistan: Who, really, is the IS in Afghanistan is a question that security experts have been asking for some time now.

COVID-19 outbreak in Afghanistan

• Appeal for ceasefire: The UN Secretary-General made an appeal for an immediate ceasefire in theatres of conflict across the world, to enable governments, health workers and humanitarian aid agencies to access those who might be most vulnerable to COVID-19.
• The epicentre of the outbreak is Herat, where over 1,00,000 Afghans recently crossed over from Iran.
• After the number of confirmed cases rose to 58, the province has been placed under lockdown.
• But the government is hobbled in its efforts to contain the disease, both by a contested election result — Afghanistan has two presidents — and the burden of an agreement that has brought it no respite.

Conclusion

With the recently concluded US-Taliban deal delivering no peace and coronavirus spreading unabated, Afghanistan faces two contagions, new and old — COVID-19 and the relentless violence.

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