In recent months, militants of Tehrik Taliban Pakistan have accelerated terror attacks inside Pakistan. In this regard, more than 59 people died, including a deputy superintendent of police, on September 29, in bombing attacks in Mastung, as crowds marked the birthday of the Prophet Muhammad (PBUH). Shortly, another explosion rocked a mosque in Hangu, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, killing at least 10 people. The mosque is mainly frequented by police personnel. On October 1, in a gun battle, police and Counter Terrorism Department (CTD) thwarted an ambush by 12 terrorists on a Kundal police post in Mianwali, killing two terrorists, as others fled. A police constable was killed during the exchange of gunfire.
The CTD reports confirmed that the terrorists which attacked Kundal check post belonged to the TTP’s Tipu group. They had also attacked a police checkpost in Lakki Marwat (KPK). Here too the terrorists ran away after facing resistance.
As regards the terror assaults in Chitral, military’s media wing (ISPR) on September 10, this year said in a statement: “Security forces have killed seven more terrorists during an exchange of fire in the Ursoon area of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa’s Chitral district on September 9…Four Pakistani soldiers were martyred on September 6 in two separate attacks on Pakistan’s check posts in Chitral, which shares a border with Afghanistan. Twelve terrorists associated with outlawed Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan were also killed”.
The ISPR statement elaborated: “A large group of “terrorists equipped with the latest weapons” had attacked two military checkposts in Chitral district…the attacks were coordinated from the Kunar and Nuristan provinces of Afghanistan”.
At this critical hour Pakistan is facing multiple problems and crises internally and externally, which are increasing political and economic instability in the country. Our security forces, especially the Army, are combating terrorists’ attacks in North Waziristan and South Waziristan. Besides killing some militants, some Army’s soldiers are, also, being martyred in exchange of fire. So, Islamabad should not lose its patience with the Afghan Taliban’s inaction. Otherwise, TTP which has a connection with India and other anti-Pakistan terror outfits will further worsen Pak-Afghan ties.
Citing Pakistani officials, VOA reported on September 27: “Islamabad’s efforts to counter cross-border attacks have borne fruits as interim Afghan rulers arrested 200 suspected militants involved in attacks against Pakistan…the Afghan rulers have also implemented other concrete steps to neutralize the terrorist activity…details of the crackdown on the outlawed Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan were shared in bilateral talks they hosted [in the end of September] last week in Kabul with a high-level delegation from Islamabad”.
The VOA report explained that Afghanistan is ‘relocating’ TTP fighters away from the border with Pakistan. The report also quoted Pakistani officials who think that Afghanistan’s government is ‘consciously’ distancing itself from the groups such as TTP who are involved in criminal activities and cross border attacks.
Pakistan has repeatedly accused the TTP of operating out of bases in Afghanistan, and pointed out that incidents of terrorism have risen across the country in recent months.
Reports suggest that the Afghanistan government has told its citizens not to help or cooperate with the TTP for its ‘jihad’ against Pakistan. In this connection, Taliban supreme leader Hibatullah Akhundzada has forbidden his forces from launching cross-border attacks against Pakistan, calling them haraam. He has also ordered Afghans not to give donations to the TTP for its so-called jihad against Pakistan.
The TTP is designated a global terrorist organisation by Pakistan, the USA, and the UN.
In this respect, the tactical alliance between some Baloch separatist groups and the TTP is most alarming. These outfits are now equipped with the most modern weapons left by the US forces in Afghanistan. The long porous borders with Afghanistan and Iran have allowed the militants to move freely.
Despite the denial of the Afghan administration, reports point out that TTP militants are still being sheltered by the conservative Islamic regime.
But Islamabad’s stance has become very tough towards the Afghan Taliban administration after the latest wave of terror attacks by the TTP. And the military leadership has warned the Afghan regime against providing shelter to the terrorist outfits involved in assaults on Pakistani security agencies.
In a statement the ISPR indicated: “It is not for the first time that Pakistan has called upon the Afghan Taliban regime to act against militant sanctuaries, but to no avail. Instead, Afghan Taliban officials have strongly reacted to Pakistan’s warning. A Taliban spokesman said that it is mainly Pakistan’s responsibility to deal with the problem at home”.
At the same time, the statement said: “It is expected that the interim Afghan government would not allow the use of its soil to perpetrate terror against any country in line with commitments made in the Doha agreement…Such attacks are intolerable and would elicit an effective response from the security forces of Pakistan”.
Notably, last year, Pakistan targeted militant sanctuaries based in Afghanistan’s Kunar and Nangarhar provinces. Now, such actions are quite risky and could have serious consequences for regional peace. It will put to the test Islamabad’s resolve to fight terrorism in all its manifestations.
Therefore, Islamabad needs to act to contain the increasing militancy emanating from Afghanistan through talks and peaceful measures. Pakistan also needs caution in undertaking any action which could lead to wider conflagration. Retaliatory cross-border raids could also result in the toughening of the Afghan Taliban administration.
The presence of the TTP and other transnational militant groups in Afghanistan has been a cause of serious concern for the international community as well.
In this connection. addressing a seminar at the Stimson Center on September 12, US Special Representative for Afghanistan Tom West admitted that the Taliban rulers had “significantly degraded” the capabilities of the militant Islamic State (IS) group.
Mr West further remarked that the Doha agreement which enabled the withdrawal of US troops from Afghanistan was no longer as relevant as it once was. He has identified the TTP as the greatest threat to regional stability, including Pakistan He added: “Washington looked at Pakistan through the lens of Afghanistan, and now, for the last two years, through a different lens”.
In this situation, there is a requirement to develop a regional consensus in order to force the Taliban administration to abandon its patronage of a group that also presents a serious threat to Afghanistan’s own security and other regional countries.
Meanwhile, giving a November 1 deadline, Pakistan on October 3 ordered all illegal immigrants, including 1.73 million Afghan nationals, to leave the country or face expulsion after disclosing that 14 of 24 suicide bombings in the country in 2023 were carried out by Afghan nationals.
On October 5, Pakistan imposed restrictions on 2012 items in connection with Afghanistan’s transit trade. The authorities also demolished illegal constructions, made by Afghan immigrants in Islamabad and Lahore.
On the same day, Foreign Office Spokesperson Mumtaz Zahra Baloch clarified that the decision to deport illegal residents was not specifically targeted at the Afghan refugees, but against all immigrants residing in the country illegally without valid visa documents—the operation was not against the Afghan refugees, living legally—the country had been hosting for several decades despite its economic constraints.
At this critical hour Pakistan is facing multiple problems and crises internally and externally, which are increasing political and economic instability in the country. Our security forces, especially the Army, are combating terrorists’ attacks in North Waziristan and South Waziristan. Besides killing some militants, some Army’s soldiers are, also, being martyred in exchange of fire. So, Islamabad should not lose its patience with the Afghan Taliban’s inaction. Otherwise, TTP which has connection with India and other anti-Pakistan terror outfits will further worsen Pak-Afghan ties.
