VOI - Voice of Indonesia | RRI - Radio Republik Indonesia

The conflict in Afghanistan, which has been going on for about four decades, has to come an end. Recently, there has been  a good intention from the government of Afghanistan to end the conflict. The Afghan government is to open opportunity for Taliban, that has always opposed  Kabul government, to participate in the administration. The conflict in Afghanistan began in 1979 when the Soviet Union established a puppet government in Kabul. When the Soviet invaded Afghanistan, there was no resistance from the Afghan government forces. Rejection came from the people, mainly Mujahidin. At that time, the United States that did not want to see any communist forces in Afghanistan, immediately helped the resistance against the Soviet Union. Besides the Mujahidin, another group that also fought the Soviet Union was Taliban. The fight against the Soviet Union finally ended 10 years later. Unfortunately, after the departure of Soviet Union, these two resistance groups began  fighting for power. In 1996, the Pakistani-backed Taliban took office in Kabul. Later, under the pretext of chasing Osama bin Laden, who was accused of being the mastermind behind the September 11, 2001 WTC twin-tower attack, the United States and its allies joined the  conflict. A new government under US control was formed. Outside Kabul, emerging resistance groups rejected the presence of the United States and Western allies. All of them use Taliban flags and they keep resisting until now. Efforts have been made to end the civil war in Afghanistan. Until todays, there is no solution. A breakthrough is made by Afghan President, Ashraf Ghani by opening opportunity, but the Taliban side is ambivalent. The elite are only willing to negotiate with the USA, while other groups want to negotiate with Kabul government. The Taliban needs to solve this internal problem first, before entering the peace process. Indonesia is seriously offering a peace solution to Afghanistan. This was conveyed when President Joko Widodo visited Kabul last January. Almost one month later, Vice President Jusuf Kalla was present at the Peace Process in Afghanistan. Indonesia is ready to mediate the conflicting parties to meet in Indonesia. Indeed, Afghanistan's long-standing problem will not be solved  within few days of talks. All conflicting parties must be patient, if Afghanistan wants peace again.