Afghanistan has long been called the graveyard of empires, as numerous invaders have set foot on its soil, mostly to conquer it for its strategic location in Central Asia. Rudyard Kipling, in his novel ‘Kim’, writes, “When everyone is dead, the great game is finished. Not before”. Although not named directly, the comment addresses Afghanistan and wider Central Asia as the chessboard for strategic rivalry between the British and Tsarist Russia, both of whom were deeply aware of Afghanistan's buffer-state status. These nations engaged in full-fledged wars, vying for strategic strongholds like the famous Second Anglo-Afghan War, triggered by British fears of Russian encroachment. In this sense, the conflict in Afghanistan is not rooted in closure or morality, but in power, security and strategy between nations, or simply, in realpolitik.

Amidst this turmoil, Afghan soil has recorded the trail of empires that arrived disguised as allies or saviours and left as arbiters of destruction, echoing the agonising sting of Julius Caesar’s........

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