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Afghanistan's lower house of parliament on Sunday endorsed with a sound majority the controversial Bilateral Security Agreement (BSA) and Status of Forces Agreement security pacts, with NATO, allowing a limited number of the U.S.-led coalition alliance to, somewhat controversially, remain in Afghanistan, after the 2014 pullout of the NATO-led forces from the country.
The house green lit the agreements amid increasing militancy mostly in the shape of deadly suicide attacks and roadside bombings.
Advocating for ratifying the agreements, one lawmaker during the proceedings said that since Afghanistan is fighting Taliban, al-Qaida and like-minded terrorists, it needs long-term support from the United States and the international community.
However, Afghan political observers are supporting the BSA but are doubtful of its impact to deliver in the near future.
"The lower house endorsing the BSA is a good achievement, because Afghanistan needs the international community's support including the U.S.," Haroon Mir, a prominent political analyst, said in talks with local media on Monday.
"Afghanistan, with more than 100,000 U.S. and NATO-led forces on its soil couldn't defeat Taliban insurgency over the past 13 years, so how is it possible to diminish Taliban militancy with some 12,000," the analyst quizzed.
A traditional Loya Jirga or grand assembly of tribal elders and other notables was held in November 2013 and attended by some 2, 500 people, and the assembly expressed support for the BSA and asked then President Hamid Karzai to sign the pact sooner rather than later, a demand denied by Karzai.
Karzai's successor President Mohammad Ashraf Ghani, a day after his inauguration in late September, subsequently inked the controversial agreement.
Ratifying the BSA and SOFA would enable the U.S. and NATO to keep around 12,000 troops in Afghanistan beyond 2014 to advise and train Afghan national security forces.
Hours after the ratification of the BSA and SOFA by the Afghan lower house of parliament, a suicide attack struck a volleyball match in the Yahyakhil district of the eastern Paktika province, along the border with Pakistan's lawless tribal areas, and left at least 50 people, all civilians, dead and injured more than 60 others.
Although no group has claimed of responsibility, many Afghans believe that the deadly attack was a response to the BSA's approval by the lower house of parliament.
"The Taliban-led militancy would continue for several more years," Mir said, adding that Taliban insurgents won't join the peace process unless the Taliban leadership and its supporters are convinced that they can't win the war through insurgency.
Meanwhile, National Directorate for Security (NDS), the country 's intelligence agency, has blamed the Haqqani network, a Taliban subgroup operating in the capital city Kabul and eastern provinces, for the deadly bombing in the eastern Paktika province.
"The militants would spare no attempts to damage government facilities and terrorize the people, they even targeted a sports ground to terrify the people," Latifa Azizi, a lawmaker, said in talks with local media, adding that to curb militancy and terrorism, the government has to bolster its counter-espionage agency and other covert security bureaus.
