Fitrat says foreign aggression and internal conflicts have inflicted heavy losses on Afghanistan

Fasihuddin Fitrat, Chief of Army Staff of the Islamic Emirate, has said that Afghanistan has endured decades of devastation due to foreign intervention and internal conflicts.

Speaking at a ceremony marking the laying of the foundation stone for a mosque in Baharak district of Badakhshan province, Fitrat said the country had suffered the consequences of war for more than four decades, with both external aggression and domestic strife contributing to widespread destruction.

“Our homeland has been engulfed in war for four and a half decades. At times, these wars were imposed on us by the enemies of the country, and at other times, internal conflicts claimed the lives of our people,” he said. “Our enemies divided and fragmented our nation.”

Fitrat argued that foreign actors had, at various stages of Afghanistan’s history, fueled divisions among Afghans and weakened national solidarity, resulting in prolonged conflict and significant human losses.

The senior military official also criticized the policies of some neighboring countries, saying pressure on Afghanistan had increased since the Islamic Emirate returned to power in 2021. He pointed in particular to the ongoing deportation of Afghan migrants from neighboring states.

According to Fitrat, economic sanctions imposed on Afghanistan have compounded the country’s challenges, while large numbers of Afghan migrants continue to be returned from neighboring countries on a daily basis.

“With the return of the Islamic Emirate, even some of our neighbors adopted hostile policies and decided to send Afghan migrants back to their homeland,” he said. “Every day, waves of migrants are moving toward Afghanistan.”

His remarks come as Iran and Pakistan continue large-scale deportations of Afghan migrants, a process that has drawn concern from international humanitarian organizations. Aid agencies have repeatedly warned that the mass return of migrants is placing additional strain on Afghanistan’s fragile economy and limited humanitarian resources.