YCL Statement on solidarity with the people of Afghanistan

The Young Communist League of Britain expresses our solidarity with the people of Afghanistan after the takeover of Kabul by the Taliban this last week.

We also lament the terrible humanitarian situation in the country and call upon the British Government and other nations to render aid to the people of Afghanistan on the basis of non-intervention, respect for their self-determination and their rights and wellbeing.

The human and social cost of the War in Afghanistan waged by the imperialist powers has been immeasurable.

The imperialist invasion of Afghanistan under a media-backed narrative of protecting the Afghan people has seen their country ruined, thousands murdered and the return of a fundamentalist regime that has destroyed the rights of women and halted any form of social progress for the people of Afghanistan.

The imperialist invasion in Afghanistan has followed a long pattern of tragic intervention in the Middle East, including the patronage of terrorist and fundamentalist forces like ISIS, the Free Syrian Army factions and the mujahideen by the United States and regional allies like Turkey and the Gulf monarchies, since the 1970s.

This tragic modern history originated with the U.S. support for the mujahideen against the legitimate Government of the socialist orientated Democratic Republic of Afghanistan.

British bombs have been used in Yemen and British and U.S. special forces have worked undercover in Syria. The political instability caused by imperialism threatens Iraq, Lebanon and the entire region.

Imperialism would rather exterminate the lives of youth, women and children than see its economic and political interests threatened by their demands for justice and social and economic progress.

The present disaster is the fault of imperialist agents such as the USA, Britain and NATO, and part of their longstanding strategy of wreaking havoc in the Middle East. Imperialism, even when it pretends to have a humanitarian face, can never be trusted.

We call upon the British Government and other nations and international organisations to negotiate for the safety and wellbeing of the Afghan people and reiterate our demand that all necessary humanitarian aid be rendered to them.

We condemn the role of imperialism in creating this disaster and demand that the British Government and supporters of warmongering be held accountable for it.

YCL International Department