Pakistan, for decades, nurtured the Taliban for strategic reasons. The increasing tension between the two neighbours now threatens the tenuous peace in the region
Asad Mirza
THE hunky-dory relations between the Pakistani military and its protégé, the Taliban in Afghanistan, have gone sour. This is despite the fact that after the Taliban’s return to power in 2021, Pakistan recognised it as a legitimate government and provided military assistance to it.
But it would be naïve to describe relations between Pakistan and Taliban 2.0 as good. Within months of coming back to power, the Taliban raised the issue of an ongoing Pakistani project to erect fencing along the shared border between Afghanistan and Pakistan (Durand Line) – the demarcation which earlier Afghan governments had never accepted. In fact, the skirmishes between the two sides started in early 2022.
Also, contrary to expectations, the Taliban 2.0 refused to bow to different Pakistani demands and pursued the path of governance all alone. However, in this process, their efforts to establish peace and an effective government in Afghanistan were hampered by infighting amongst their factions: the Haqqani network, the political wing led by Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar, and the military wing represented by Mullah Muhammad Yaqoob and Mullah Abdul Qayam Zakir.
In addition, crucially the Taliban 2.0 has also failed to rein in the remaining militant elements after the withdrawal of US troops from Afghanistan.
These splinter groups include elements of the Islamic State Khorasan (IS-K). It seeks to create a caliphate across South and Central Asia. During the last three years, the outfit has carried out several attacks in Afghanistan. It continues to mock Taliban 2.0’s desire for international legitimacy, a message that has resonated with many disaffected Afghans.
Meanwhile, the armed resistance is growing elsewhere too, with the anti-Taliban group – the Afghanistan Freedom Front (AFF) led by former general Yasin Zia – becoming increasingly emboldened in carrying out attacks on Taliban forces throughout the country.
As per reports, the AFF is cooperating with the National Resistance Front of Afghanistan (NRF), led by Ahmad Massoud, son of anti-Soviet military leader and Afghan hero Ahmad Shah Massoud.
But in its current standoff, the group which bristles Pakistan most is Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) or the Haqqani network. Though the ruling Taliban in Afghanistan and the TTP, which Pakistan calls a threat, are separate but allied groups.
Following the Taliban’s return to power, Pakistan witnessed a spike in terror attacks as the new regime got emboldened and strengthened the TTP. The TTP aims to establish an Islamic emirate in Pakistan, just like its brother outfit did in Kabul.
A report by the Islamabad-based Centre for Research and Security Studies revealed a 56% rise in fatalities from terror attacks in Pakistan in 2023 compared to 2022, with over 1,500 killed, including 500 security personnel.
The relationship between the Afghan Taliban and Pakistan’s government has been further strained after Islamabad accused the Kabul regime of cross-border terrorism. Islamabad has imposed trade restrictions, expelled some 5,00,000 undocumented Afghan migrants, and put in a stricter visa policy. Military actions against the TTP have continued too.
Pakistan, which had hoped Kabul would take care of the TTP, has turned hostile to the Taliban regime in Afghanistan after a lack of action.
The current escalation began with Pakistani airstrikes in eastern Afghanistan, specifically in the Paktika province. These airstrikes, aimed at dismantling a training facility and targeting TTP training camps, resulted in the deaths of 46 people, mostly women and children, according to Taliban officials.
A Pakistani official said the strikes targeted “terrorist hideouts inside Afghanistan, using a mix of jets and drones”.
The Taliban spokesman in Kabul said that the defence ministry vowed retaliation for the attack that it called “barbaric” and a “clear aggression”. Afghanistan’s Foreign Ministry in Kabul also summoned the Pakistani envoy and lodged a strong protest over the strikes.
That is why around 15,000 Taliban fighters are reportedly marching from Kabul, Kandahar, and Herat towards the Mir Ali border adjoining Pakistan’s Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, to launch a major offensive against Pakistan.
The Pakistani military strike on Afghan territory came just days after the TTP attacked a checkpoint in the country’s northwest, resulting in the death of 16 Pakistani soldiers.
The souring of relations between Pakistan and Afghanistan is, therefore, a result of Pakistan’s long-standing policy of supporting militant groups in the region, a policy whose outcome was foreseen by security experts.
TTP, although a separate group from the one in Kabul, is known to have a tacit understanding with the Taliban. Pakistan claims that Kabul is unwilling to act along the porous Afghanistan-Pakistan border, and that is complicating the situation.
Pakistan’s long game of playing both sides with the Taliban has come back to bite it, proving the adage. What Pakistan once nurtured as a strategic asset is now a volatile force threatening its own stability.
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Asad Mirza is a New Delhi-based senior journalist and a media consultant. The views expressed here are the author’s personal and Clarion India does not necessarily share or subscribe to them. He can be contacted at: asad.mirza.nd@gmail.com
