PESHAWAR, Oct 8: Notwithstanding the government stand to join the global coalition against terrorism, the public sentiment in the Frontier province, as elsewhere in the country, created in the backdrop of the American military action in Afghanistan signifies that the conflict could drag on for years.

Although the everyday business in the Peshawar city remained open, with only few markets where protest demonstrations were held closed, fear in the streets for the innocent Afghan nation mounted.

The local population as well as Afghan refugees blamed that America attacked the war-torn Afghanistan just to have a sphere of influence in the region and to check the military and economic advancement of China. “The US has been trapped by Russia in the same battlefield where it was defeated and to settle scores with the cold war enemy,” remarked Abdul Ahad, who runs a carpet shop in the downtown. “Do you think that the naked aggression against Afghanistan would pave the way for a broad-based government in Kabul?” he asked.

A merchant, who deals in imported dry fruits from Kabul, said that the issues of Taliban’s legitimacy to hold power, Osama bin Laden’s handing over to the US for terrorist attacks, a broad-based government and lasting peace in Afghanistan would prove illusive.

The same issues were left unresolved by America and other stakeholders of the Afghan conflict after former USSR withdrew its troops from Afghanistan due to deep-rooted complications. “War brings destruction not only for the poor, but for the rich as well,” he observed.

“The war, which had started with the invasion of Russia on Afghanistan and still raging, had not ended yet, when the allied forces attacked the land. Now, God knows how many years it would take for the peace and normalcy to return to the country,” said an Afghan boy, who runs a grocery shop to feed his large family living in a rented house on the outskirts of Peshawar.

The so-called partners in the international coalition against terrorism harbour reservations against the US expansionist designs in the region. “The American plan to dislodge Taliban and install a government of its own choosing in Kabul would backfire,” said an Afghan scholar, requesting to keep his name undisclosed.

Russia wanted to involve America in Afghanistan so that it could take revenge for its defeat suffered at the hands of Afghan Mujahideen supported and equipped by America and it succeeded in its scheme, he added.

“No invaders have ever succeeded in capturing Afghanistan or imposing a government from outside, and the present military action termed by the US and Pakistan presidents “short and targeted” would continue for years. It might turn out to be the beginning of a third world war, he concluded.