Opposition Unites Front Against Taliban to Bring Afghanistan Out of Crisis

JAKARTA - The unified Afghan opposition to the Taliban has emerged for the first time in what could develop into a credible alternative government, after holding a three-day conference in Vienna, Austria.

Afghan resistance fighters, politicians and activists gathered in the Austrian capital and issued a declaration of a "new political vision for the country".

Amid tight security, including armed police, the National Resistance Front leader was joined by other military commanders as well as women's rights activists, Islamic scholars and ambassadors.

"This struggle is young and it will take time to gather strength," said Aliye Yilmaz, an ethnic Uzbek and women's rights representative, told The National News April 28.

He joined Nigara Mirdad, Afghanistan's deputy ambassador to Poland, who told The National: "We are sending a clear message to the Taliban and to the world, we are working for the future of Afghanistan to bring things back to normal.

"This conference is a very clear message about our inclusivity and ethnicity," he said.

His words were backed up by the Pashtuns, Hazaras, Uzbeks and Tajiks who gathered on Wednesday, the last day of the Vienna Conference in Afghanistan.

Their motivation is that, 20 months after the capture of Kabul by the Taliban, Afghans are suffering more and more from deprivation and terror.

In a joint proclamation made by the Afghan National Movement on Wednesday, they pledged "to establish a legitimate elected political system that includes all Afghans that represents the voice of the silent masses that are not heard".

Although the Taliban's rule in Afghanistan is absolute, this new movement has set its sights on providing a credible alternative future.

Nashkur Kabuli, an Islamic scholar originally from Kabul but now living in Germany said the meeting aims to "find a way forward for Afghanistan to find a viable roadmap that can provide a solution to the current crisis."

"We are diverse voices and people from all different backgrounds. This is for all of Afghanistan for freedom and nothing more," he said.

Those freedoms have been severely restricted for half the population, with the gains on women's rights made 20 years after the US-led invasion almost completely obliterated.

"The Taliban do not recognize the role of women or women as human beings. For us to continue our actions, we need women's resistance," Yilmaz said.

"Unfortunately, women's struggles do not receive sufficient support and assistance from the international community," she continued.

However, the Taliban must be concerned that the opposition is able to unite such diverse groups in Afghanistan.

"We have different voices here – women, military resistance, journalists and activists – but we are all united for a free Afghanistan," Mirdad said.

"For all of us to unite in one forum, this is the achievement of this conference because we have lost everything - freedom, rights and violations against women who have no rights at all," he said.