Chief Executive Officer Abdullah Abdullah on Monday said some politicians were pushing for the review of the Bilateral Security Agreement (BSA) between Afghanistan and the US in pursuit of their own interests.

“They once again brought it up for debate for their personal objectives, I don’t think that this will help the security situation of our country,” said Abdullah. 

But, Abdul Rauf Ibrahimi, speaker of the Afghan Wolesi Jirga (Lower House of Parliament) has said that the call by lawmakers to review the security agreement with the US is in a bid to resolve the ongoing security crisis in Afghanistan.

“The calls to review  the security agreement came in view of the security situation in Afghanistan and the sacrifices we render on a daily basis and because of the security of the Afghan people,” Ibrahimi said.

This comes after Afghan politicians and leaders of a number of political movements this week gathered in Kabul where they discussed Afghanistan’s ongoing political and security situation with a special focus on the issue of peace and the Bilateral Security Agreement (BSA) signed between Afghanistan and the United States.

This agreement has allowed thousands of US soldiers to remain in the country after 2014 and it has paid the salaries of all Afghan National Defense and Security Force members.

“Afghanistan has been grappling with war and violence over the past four decades, the war is still going on and people want to achieve peace and security, therefore, we should not raise questions on the security agreement because of our personal issues, because this will not prove helpful to mend and improve the security situation,” added Abdullah.

In the wake of a sharp increase in fatalities among security forces in numerous provinces, MPs on Wednesday called for the BSA to be assessed. They said the agreement has not been successful in the fight against insurgency.

These MPs also said that the US has failed to enforce the agreement when it comes to the mobilization of Afghan Security and Defense Forces (ANDSF).

“I voted against this treaty from the very first day and I reject it again,” said MP Obaidullah Barakzai.

Those who signed the treaty should now think about the execution of it, whatever is written on it should be implemented,” MP Ghulam Farooq Majroh said.

“I don’t think that the review and the termination of this agreement will support the interests of the Afghan people,” MP Shukria Paikan said.

Among the main critics was Afghanistan’s former president Hamid Karzai who proposed the Afghan government review the security agreement with the US.

The BSA was initially supposed to be signed by the Karzai administration. But Karzai stunned top US officials and many of his own security officials and the Afghans in general by refusing to sign the agreement. He said that the US first needed to restore peace in Afghanistan before he would sign the pact.

Karzai said that the US had to prove its good intentions by keeping its soldiers out of Afghan homes and promoting peace talks with the Taliban.

“We said that to sign the security agreement between Afghanistan and the US, if the Jirga agreed on it and the Wolesi Jirga (lower House of Parliament) agreed, then we will work on the implementation phase of the agreement, but the implementation phase included peace and stability in Afghanistan and holding transparent elections. I am happy that you (members of Loya Jirga) have pondered the issue of peace and stability in Afghanistan.  But when will the peace and security be restored, today after your verdict or security after ten years or fifteen years, we need security today! We need security today! But logically it is not an easy task for us to allow a foreign country to establish a base here. But we are compelled to give them a base because of the conspiracies against our country in the last 30 years, for that, we have a condition and that is our security should be restored from today,” said Karzai in 2013 during the Loya Jirga in Kabul.

Back in 2014, the National Unity Government (NUG) under President Ashraf Ghani and Chief Executive Officer Abdullah Abdullah concluded the crucial Bilateral Security Agreement (BSA) with the US and Status of Forces Agreement (SOFA) with NATO, paving the way for about 12,000 foreign forces to remain in Afghanistan post-2014.