EDITORIAL: With the TTP (Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan) having the benefit of ‘operational depth’ in Afghanistan, terrorist attacks are escalating in this country. Last Monday, a band of 10 terrorists tried to enter the cantonment in Bannu, a district in southern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.
Relating the details, military’s media wing, the ISPR, said the terrorists were effectively thwarted by the security forces; they then rammed an explosive-laden vehicle into the perimeter wall of the cantonment. The suicide blast caused a section of the wall to collapse, damaging the adjoining infrastructure and resulting in the martyrdom of eight soldiers.
Hours later, another militant group stormed a rural health centre in the neighbouring D.I. Khan district which borders Afghanistan, claiming the lives of five civilians, including women and children. “The heinous act of terrorism”, asserted the ISPR statement, “has been undertaken by the Gul Bahadar group [a TTP affiliate], which operates from Afghanistan and has used Afghan soil to orchestrate acts of terrorism inside Pakistan in the past as well.”
Soon afterwards, the Foreign Office summoned deputy chief of the Afghan mission in Islamabad to deliver a strong demarche, urging the authorities in that country to “fully investigate and take immediate, robust and effective action against the perpetrators” of the Bannu attack.
This is not the first time Pakistan has raised its concerns with the de facto Taliban government, demanding action against terrorists launching cross-border attacks. Although they did not immediately respond to the latest protest by Pakistan, the Taliban are expected to deny, like after such previous grave provocations, the presence of violent extremist groups in Afghan territory.
Endorsing Pakistan’s position in a recent report the UN Security Council’s Analytical Support and Sanctions Monitoring Team said, “TTP continues to operate at a significant scale in Afghanistan and to conduct terrorist operations into Pakistan from there, often utilising Afghans.” Some other reports also suggest Afghan militants contribute to the TTP’s fight against this state.
In fact, one of the 10 terrorists killed in Bannu has been identified as an Afghan national. Despite all the verifiable evidence, the Taliban ruling Afghanistan have made it abundantly clear that they are averse to taking any action against the TTP militants whom they regard as their ideological brothers and to whom they owe a debt for contributing to their war against foreign forces.
Deeply frustrating as their refusal to rein in the TTP terrorists is, Pakistan is running out of patience. Last month Defence Minister Khawaja Asif warned the Kabul government of launching attacks on TTP sanctuaries inside Afghanistan. That, though, would only further exacerbate tensions between the two neighbouring countries, and needs to be avoided.
However, Pakistan may already been working along with China to have its security concerns addressed. Believed to have attained considerable leverages with the Kabul government by forging diplomatic, trade and investment ties, China is wary too of Afghanistan-based terrorist groups. If they are loathe to taking decisive action against their TTP ideological brothers, the Afghan Taliban should be persuaded to settle them in their own country.
Copyright Business Recorder, 2024
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