EDITORIAL: Swat and its adjoining areas, which emerged as the first fertile field for Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) and its ilk to enforce their version of Sharia in 2008-09 and were taken back within a year through a successful military campaign, seem to be emerging as their coveted target once again.
The banned outfit’s presence was first detected last month when they reportedly set up a check-post at Balasoor Top in Matta tehsil. The local people expressed their fears loudly and clearly; and they were of the view that the concerned agencies would deal with this threat effectively.
The ISPR, however, stated that theirs was a “misperception” created by social media. May be there are a few individuals who have sneaked in from Afghanistan to resettle in their native areas, the media wing of military said. But the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa police were a bit concerned though they too did not openly confirm the presence of TTP militants in Swat.
However, that ambiguity ended this past Tuesday. Within a few hours the terrorists struck a police station in Kohat and blasted a vehicle. In these attacks, eight people, including the head of Amman (peace) Committee and four policemen, lost their lives.
And, as this Pakistani brand of Taliban was spilling innocent blood in Swat and Kohat their partners in Afghanistan opened fire from across the border in Kurram Agency, martyring three soldiers of Pakistan Army.
Meanwhile, the local media reported abduction of seven members of a mobile company. The call for a Rs 100 million ransom is said to have emanated from within Afghanistan.
The Taliban leadership did not take long to take responsibility for the Swat and Kohat attacks. And, incidentally, Pakistan has asked the Afghan rulers in Kabul to locate and arrest the banned Jaish-e-Mohammad founder Maulana Masood Azhar — for reason that remains undisclosed.
There are also reports suggesting that people are abandoning their abodes in the Tirah valley as they find the TTP raising its ugly head in their area as well.
Is it then the case that Pakistan is confronted with the second spell of terrorism by the TTP. The first spell of TTP terrorism was successfully brought to an end but at a very high cost of human life. But that was only a battle victory; the political follow-up that should have resolved the issues with TTP was not there. There was no concerted plan to go about this challenge; there were many moves but never a uniform approach.
That approach had to be two-pronged: firstly, to resolve issues with TTP leaders; and secondly, Pakistan should have taken up the issue of terrorism emanating from across the Afghan border.
Agreed, the pre-Taliban governments in Afghanistan being under Indian influence did not care about Pakistan’s repeated calls to rein in TTP from attacking Pakistan border areas from its safe havens in Afghanistan.
But with Afghan Taliban in the saddle Pakistan had expected that the TTP militants would be asked to go back to Pakistan and if not then they would remain peaceful; in other words, they would be required to avoid violence at all costs. But that has not happened despite quite a few political and diplomatic moves on the part of Pakistan.
Even direct contacts, both official and private, with the Afghanistan-based TTP leadership haven’t succeeded in breaking the ice. The question is why so? But this question does not have a clear answer.
One of the less clear answers to this question which, of course, is based on one’s gut feeling rather than calculation, is that the Taliban rulers in Kabul are stepping up pressure on Pakistan by ‘using’ the TTP with a view to extracting from Islamabad some important concessions, the top amongst them being diplomatic recognition of their interim setup as a legitimate government of Afghanistan.
Copyright Business Recorder, 2022