Aref Karimi—AFP
Amidst a resurgence of terrorism, the National Security Committee (NSC) this week stressed that no country would be allowed to provide sanctuaries and facilitation to terrorists and Pakistan reserved all rights in that respect to safeguard its people. Speaking with Geo News after the meeting, Defense Minister Khawaja Asif recalled the Taliban’s commitments from Doha, where they had pledged to not allow the use of Afghan soil for terrorism against any foreign country. Lamenting that Afghan soil was still being used for terrorism against Pakistan, he added: “We hope that they will rein in and control this new wave of terrorism.”
In response, Kabul termed the NSC’s assertions as “false” and “regrettable.” In a statement, spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid claimed that the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan was striving to ensure that its territory was not used against Pakistan or any other nation, but “the Pakistani side also has a responsibility to resolve the situation, avoid baseless talks and provocative ideas, because such talks and mistrust are not in the interest of any side.” This does little to inspire confidence in the possibility of peace, as Kabul’s appeal is tantamount to victim-blaming—expecting Islamabad to appease the militants that have claimed hundreds of lives in the past year alone.
According to a report published by the Pakistan Institute for Conflict and Security Studies, the banned Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) has claimed or been linked to a majority of the 376 terror attacks reported in 2022, killing 533 people—mostly security forces—and injuring 832 others. The bulk of the attacks occurred in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa (67 percent), followed by Balochistan (31 percent); both provinces border Afghanistan. According to Interior Minister Rana Sanaullah, thousands of TTP are sheltering in Afghanistan, often infiltrating into Pakistan across the porous border that also sees massive smuggling of dollars and commodities such as sugar and wheat.
It is no secret that since the Afghan Taliban returned to power in Afghanistan, TTP militants are operating with greater freedom and in some cases being facilitated by Kabul. The Foreign Ministry last month also shared a dossier with the U.N. containing “undeniable” evidence of India’s role in terrorism on Pakistani soil. Pakistan, as a consequence, is now threatened on both its eastern and western borders, with government officials of both India and Afghanistan ramping up their saber-rattling in public statements. The key question remaining is who is funding the current bout of militancy and one need only look at the amount of “aid” Delhi is providing to the Afghan Taliban to posit that the TTP is now doing “India’s job” from across the Durand Line .