With Pakistan witnessing an uptick in militant attacks in August, the Foreign Office made clear earlier last week that any meaningful progress in relations with Afghanistan would depend on the Afghan Taliban taking concrete action against the TTP, BLA and other terrorist groups operating from their soil into Pakistan. The latest report of the UN Analytical Support and Sanctions Monitoring Team made plain that the de facto authorities in Afghanistan (the Afghan Taliban) continue to support the TTP and that other terror groups such as the BLA are also operating from Afghanistan. This trend continues to extract a heavy toll on the country, with monthly data compiled by the Pakistan Institute for Conflict and Security Studies (PICSS) showing that 199 militant attacks were recorded in August, compared with 144 in July. Thankfully, the human toll of the attacks declined, with a 41 per cent decrease in deaths and a 16 per cent decline in injuries. However, hundreds of attacks month-to-month and the concentration of these attacks in the western provinces show that the ability of terror groups to find safe harbour in Afghanistan continues to put the lives of Pakistanis in jeopardy.
The remarks from the Foreign Office came amidst a visit from the Chinese special envoy for Afghan affairs to Islamabad. The visit was reportedly aimed at preventing further escalation between Kabul and Islamabad and reviving the Urumqi process, with China having hosted a meeting between the two neighbours earlier this year. The Foreign Office has said that Pakistan appreciates China’s sustained and constructive engagement on the issue of Afghanistan and has always remained positively engaged for constructive dialogue on the subject, but progress would depend on the Afghan Taliban taking action against the terror groups operating from their soil. The country is right to maintain a firm line on this issue. The ability of terror groups to find safe haven in Afghanistan is not just a threat to Pakistan’s national security but also an enduring threat to all neighbouring countries and the Central Asian region as a whole, something that the report from the Sanctions Monitoring Team notes.
While the Afghan Taliban have made some recent attempts to rein in the TTP, relocating approximately 2,000 TTP fighters and families from the Pakistani border to further inside Afghanistan and Taliban leader Haibatullah Akhundzada reportedly warning the group to halt attacks targeting Pakistan, this still falls short of a genuine crackdown. Just last week, security forces foiled an infiltration attempt at the Pak-Afghan border in North Waziristan, eliminating 15 terrorists, while also eliminating 48 terrorists belonging to Indian proxy groups across Balochistan. The need for such kinetic measures, combined with the number of attacks, shows that the Afghan Taliban are struggling to rein in anti-Pakistan terror groups and also highlights how India is exploiting the situation to play a destabilising role. As such, security operations must continue and it is good to see that they are producing results. But if security operations alone were sufficient to quell the terror problem, Pakistan would not be facing one right now. The need to keep the diplomatic pressure on the Afghan Taliban to do what is right remains paramount and Pakistan should leverage its growing diplomatic clout to this end. Most importantly, all authorities and political factions must be on the same page on this issue. It simply cannot fall victim to the ongoing political polarisation.
