Afghans have hardly had a single peaceful day since King Mohammed Zahir was toppled in a coup in July 1973. Wherever you go, from Panjshir Valley in the north to Kandahar in the south, to Bamyan or to Herat, there are few families who have not lost loved ones fighting the occupiers from the Soviet Union or the terrorists from the Taliban. Taliban rule ended in 2001, but the fear never did. More people are dying than ever before. In the most recent attack, last Wednesday, at least 34 students, most of them teenagers, died when a Daesh suicide bomber blew himself up in an education center in Kabul. Fighting continues in Ghazni, the seventh largest city in Afghanistan, where up to 600 people have been killed and the government is still unable to repel a Taliban offensive after more than a week. After billion of dollars spent and thousands of lives lost, why is there no end to this war? These Daesh suicide bombers and Taliban fighters — are they humans or robots? Why is the “unity government” of Afghanistan so paralyzed, unable to provide security for its own people, even in their own capital? The answers to these questions lie partly in the inadequacy of government institutions, and partly in the malign roles played by Afghanistan’s neighbors. Some say the Taliban have infiltrated the highest ranks of the defense and intelligence services, and have access to confidential security information. That makes sense when you look at Taliban attacks on police stations, army bases and diplomatic areas. But in addition to internal issues over security and the weakness of the unity government, external participants are fanning the flames of conflict for their own interest. Wherever you go, from Panjshir Valley in the north to Kandahar in the south, to Bamyan or to Herat, there are few families in Afghanistan who have not lost loved ones fighting the occupiers from the Soviet Union or the terrorists from the Taliban. Camelia Entekhabifard Iran backed the war against the Taliban in 2001, and since then until recently it has more or less supported Hamid Karzai’s government and the unity administration of Ashraf Ghani and Abdullah Abdullah. However, there are now reports saying Iran backs the Taliban. That can only be related to US President Donald Trump’s withdrawal from the Iran nuclear deal, which caused so much anger in Tehran. Are they taking their revenge by causing a problem for American interests in Afghanistan? Qatar has also become involved, and offered to host peace talks between the Taliban and the United States. Perhaps, since the Taliban have an official presence in Doha, Qatar sees itself as a potential mediator — but the Afghan government disagrees. Saudi Arabia hosted an international conference in Makkah last month on peace and stability in Afghanistan, attended by high-ranking Islamic scholars from Egypt to Malaysia — but not from the Taliban, Iran or Qatar. The scholars condemned acts of terrorism, such as suicide attacks and bombings, as un-Islamic. The Taliban refused to accept the outcome of the conference, and instead said they wanted to talk directly with the United States through the Qatari channel. Before they leave their homes in the morning, many Afghans read the relevant verses from the Qur’an because they do not know if they will return home. That is not fair. From Qatar to Iran, from Pakistan to China and Russia, so many countries are competing with one another for involvement in Afghanistan. And as this proxy war continues, the real price is being paid by innocent people whose dreams extend no farther than a piece of bread to eat and a safe place to sleep. Camelia Entekhabifard is an Iranian-American journalist, political commentator and author of Camelia: Save Yourself By Telling the Truth (Seven Stories Press, 2008). Twitter: @CameliaFard Disclaimer: Views expressed by writers in this section are their own and do not necessarily reflect Arab News" point-of-view