Home Editorial Editorial: Pakistan’s Afghanistan Problem

Editorial: Pakistan’s Afghanistan Problem

National unity is needed to tackle cross-border threats from the TTP and Kabul’s forces

by Editorial

The 2,600km border fence along the Durand Line. Photograph by Nazar Ul Islam

Pakistan has never before had as many intermingled and complex problems with Afghanistan it does now under the interim Taliban-led government, with frequent border clashes and infiltration from terrorists of the Pakistani Taliban who had fled across the Durand Line. This has weakened the already-porous border, providing havens for the banned Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP). The civil and military leadership alike, operating on the assumption that the Afghan Taliban would be beholden to Pakistan for years of “support,” are understandably bothered; adding salt to the wound are some Pakistani leaders like PTI chief Imran Khan, who don’t even seem to consider it a major problem.

The neighboring states have a writ of the state problem. Observers are beginning to realize that parts of Pakistan are now imitating the lawlessness of Afghanistan, and fears are rising that this collapse of the state’s authority could spread beyond the borders. Both states had attempted to forestall this development in 2018 through the Afghanistan-Pakistan Action Plan for Peace and Solidarity, which focused on “taking effective action against fugitives and irreconcilable elements posing security threats to either of the two countries.” Five years later, this document has been rubbished, falling victim to the diplomatically incoherent Kabul government and Islamabad’s disturbed internal politics, some of which is dangerously inclined toward relying on trouble with Afghanistan to win the power game.

Tragically, indications of threats from the western border have been mounting since April, when Pakistan carried out coordinated airstrikes inside Afghanistan at suspected TTP hideouts. Afghan officials claimed dozens Afghan civilians were killed and injured in the assault, and the Pakistani ambassador was given a diplomatic demarche and warned of “dire consequences” in case of any further military incursions. Last month, amidst a resurgence of terrorism in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa and Balochistan, Pakistani officials indicated that cross-border action wasn’t off the table.

Unfortunately, the TTP has consolidated its bases in Afghanistan over the past year, with multiple reports verifying the banned group’s attempts to once again secure a foothold in Pakistan. The government of front-line province Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa—distracted by a political tussle with Islamabad—is doing little to counter the threat, with lawmakers and civilians alike claiming their lives are under threat if they don’t pay blood-money. There is little that can be done without national unity, however, and Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif’s choices are limited so long as opposition leader Khan continues to trot out calls for “peace talks” that have already been attempted—and failed—countless times.

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