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The UN Security Council has unequivocally condemned last week’s suicide bombing in Swat, which claimed at least 16 lives and left dozens injured. The council has rightly described the attack as a “heinous and cowardly act of terrorism” and called for those responsible to be brought to justice. Such statements matter because they reinforce the principle that terrorism, regardless of where it occurs or who its victims are, demands a united international response. But statements must now be matched with sustained action, particularly in addressing the conditions that continue to allow terrorist groups to operate with relative impunity in Afghanistan. Pakistan’s warning to the UNSC a day earlier deserves serious attention. Islamabad told the council that multiple terrorist organisations continue to enjoy safe havens inside Afghanistan in what it described as an “increasingly permissive environment” since the Afghan Taliban’s return to power in August 2021. Pakistan’s permanent representative specifically identified the banned TTP, BLA and its Majeed Brigade, IS-K, ETIM and Al-Qaeda affiliates as groups operating from Afghan territory. At the same time, Pakistan’s security forces have said they eliminated at least 10 India-backed terrorists in two operations in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa this week. Islamabad has consistently raised its concerns at every relevant international forum. As recently as June, Pakistan’s envoy to the UN argued that India’s objectives in Afghanistan were driven by the goal of destabilising Pakistan through terrorist groups based across the border, while reiterating that Pakistan would not tolerate attempts to undermine its national security.
Nearly five years after the fall of Kabul following two decades of war after 9/11, Afghanistan remains far from stable. There were some hopes that the withdrawal of foreign forces would give Afghans the opportunity to rebuild their country in peace. Those hopes have not materialised. Instead, the Afghan Taliban have shown little willingness to fulfil their international commitments or conform to accepted international norms. More worryingly, they have allowed Afghanistan to become a sanctuary for multiple terrorist organisations. The perception that they can continue to play this destabilising role without consequences has only deepened because, thus far, Pakistan has borne the brunt of cross-border terrorism while the wider international community has remained relatively insulated from its effects. That complacency is dangerous, though. While the TTP and the BLA currently direct most of their violence against Pakistan, groups such as IS-K, ETIM and Al-Qaeda have not established or maintained their presence in Afghanistan without broader ambitions. It is likely only a matter of time before these organisations turn their attention elsewhere. If that happens, the international community will once again mobilise after the fact, as it has done repeatedly in the past. It would be far wiser to prevent that outcome than to react once another catastrophic terrorist attack forces global attention back to Afghanistan.
This is also about dismantling the financial and logistical networks that sustain them. If Pakistan’s allegations regarding Indian support for the TTP and the BLA are correct, they warrant thorough international scrutiny. Equally, questions must be asked about who is financing organisations such as Al-Qaeda, IS-K and ETIM. Terrorist groups do not survive without resources, and uncovering and disrupting those funding streams should be a global priority. The UNSC’s recognition pf these facts must translate into a coordinated strategy that addresses terrorist safe havens, financing and cross-border support before the threat expands further. Terrorism is not Pakistan’s problem alone. Preventing Afghanistan from remaining a haven for transnational terrorist organisations is really an investment in global security.
