KABUL, Aug. 28 (Xinhua) -- Afghanistan has been suffering due to protracted war and civil strife over the past more than three decades. Countless Afghans have been killed, maimed and millions others migrated to the neighboring states of Pakistan, Iran and other parts of the world.
The unabated militancy involving more than a dozen armed groups including Taliban, the so-called Islamic State (IS) and al-Qaida, according to observers have been fighting in Afghanistan even 15 years after launching the U.S.-led coalition invasion against Taliban regime and dismissing it from power in late 2001.
Some 150,000 strong U.S.-led coalition forces ended combat mission and departed to their home countries in late 2014 but Afghan militancy is still going on and claims the lives of Afghans almost every day elsewhere in the militancy-plagued country.
Afghan experts believe that terrorism and extremist elements destabilizing Afghanistan posing threat to the region and the world at large receives supports from circles outside the war-torn country.
"The sanctuaries of Taliban and like-mined elements are outside Afghanistan. The breeding center of extremism and terrorists and their financial resources are outside Afghanistan," political and military expert Gen. (Rtd) Atiqullah Omarkhil told Xinhua.
"There will be no viable peace and stability in Afghanistan unless and until the sanctuaries of militants outside the country are closed down and their financial resources are choked off," the well-respected analyst noted in an interview recently.
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