The spring with its beauty and special fragrance had just opened its arms to embrace a people who hoped for a more vibrant life marked by social, economic and political progress.

The spring rain was watering lovingly the landscape of a beautiful country that deep in its history had been the crossroads of cultures, traditions and civilizations. Poets and writers with pen in hand still admired the beautiful spring season despite the absence of ink in the inkwells. Ignoring the danger from hunters, birds continued to sing and fly skywards, not guessing the catastrophe about to befall them. On the outskirts of Kabul, young shepherds led their flocks, still playing a flute while animals galloped, jumped and ran through the fields that had just awoken after a long cold winter. Activities of daily life were still echoing in the streets of the city.

The Chay Khana (tea house) still filled the cups of its customers as restaurant owners prepared to offer the usual breakfast to an appreciative clientele. On the street corners, poor cobblers repaired men's and women's shoes across the street from wealthy jewelers. Schoolchildren, students, petty officials and traders still believed in a bright future and a more modern Afghan society they thought could one day eliminate the suffering that weighed most particularly on the shoulders of the poor.

Suddenly a bell sounded misery in the city and the sky turned almost grey. All around could be heard the sound of shooting in the air as random missiles descended blindly and without distinction on the people below. Birds stopped singing and sought refuge by flying right and left like arrows. The very fabric of Afghan society began to scream in the face of the MiG 21s as they danced high above and sometimes low to cast bombs on the presidential palace in the heart of Kabul and elsewhere. This bitter and sad spectacle, orchestrated by a Soviet director, defied the expectations of the audience (the Afghans) and announced a new protracted misery for a people who had already suffered under a harsh and brutal regime.

People were overcome by confusion and ran like madmen in different directions without exchanging a word. Merchants closed their shops to shield themselves from this unexpected misery. Black pitiless smoke hid the capital from sun and light. The joy of small children playing and having fun again in clean air had been transformed into despair. The water was no longer boiling in the Tea House. The ferocious tanks had laid waste to a more or less normal life.

Kabul radio interrupted its broadcasts and a heartless and merciless man trembling with the fear of a female voice announced the arrival of "the reds" in a country of multiculturalism and the music of misfortune greeted the arrival of a band of red dictators. Their bosses directed, encouraged and monitored this drama while applauding from the other side of the Amu Darya ( Great River which forms the northern border between Afghanistan and the former republic of the former Soviet Union.)

In an attempt at pacification, the puppets of Moscow promised bread, houses and clothing to people who had resisted invasion by Alexander the Great, the British and others for centuries. In a shameful part of this drama, they forced the press to change the word "Democratic" to "Republic" in an effort to convince people to accept this absurd situation, later changing the tricolour Afghan flag to red, Soviet style.

In the recent history of Afghanistan, this single event has brought about the destruction of a people and country. This act of barbarity reflecting the individual ambition of a band of puppets has stifled the true desires and wishes of a nation which wanted to transform the whole face of their country without distinction of race, ethnicity and religious and political views. This dramatic spectacle set a pattern for other groups under the influence of foreign powers or treacherous neighbours which have left a black mark in the history of contemporary Afghanistan. Other forces and factions of different political or religious colours have continued to kill innocent people in imitation of this initial action.

When the Soviet bear after several years had reaped the whirlwind of its failed military intervention in Afghanistan and packed its bags to return home, the country fell into chaos and the drama assumed even larger dimensions as different parties of Mujahidin, supported by neighbouring countries, made a distant Kabul the target of merciless bombardment resulting in the death of thousands of innocent people.

But the Afghan mountains, valleys, and hills bear witness that in this dangerous game the only person of courage, hope and pride was the national hero of Afghanistan and the international community, Commandant Massoud. He was dedicated to furthering the cause of peace in his country and the surrounding region and was under no circumstances prepared to accept the disintegration of Afghan society. He continued to fight alongside his people against the barbarities of the Taliban and their Pakistani sponsors until his assassination in 2001.

But later, another drama with new actors in different colours has attracted the attention of the audience, offering the population a new vision of a dark world run by ruthless men. This drama has been strengthened and encouraged by a range of foreign countries under the eyes of the American and Pakistani military, with supplies and funding provided by some Arab countries. The rise of the Taliban has pushed the lives of Afghans back to the Middle Ages with thousands of innocent people massacred in the name of religion and women largely excluded from social life.

Today, the curtain has risen on yet another bitter scene. For the past decade a few corrupt people indifferent to justice and thinking only of their personal interests have taken a bizarre pride in pursuing divisive policies, promoting ethnic tension and governing only to pocket money from foreign countries without even attempting to solve Afghanistan's deep seated problems. The day to day needs of men, women and children still living in misery remain unaddressed as they await by day and night the dawn of the true light of peace and justice in their country.

Neighbouring Pakistan continues as before to disrupt the political, military and social situation in Afghanistan. While thousands of forieng troops are present in Afghanistan, the Pakistani government and secret service seek to undermine the capacity of Afghans to govern themselves in order to ensure an ongoing Pakistani influence on the affairs of the country, especially after the departure of foreign forces from 2014.

The most recent visit to Kabul by the Pakistani Prime Minster, Mr Gilani, served only to fan the flames. He benefited yet again from the weakness of the Afghani government by denying the presence of Taliban and other terrorist training camps on Pakistani soil. Today it is common knowledge that Pakistan is one of the most active patrons of the Taliban, assisting their formation and dispatch across the border into Afghanistan. The recent speech by Mr Gilani in Kabul gave rise to fits of laughter even amongst the small children of Afghanistan.