Shahwaiz Hussain Khalid
The Western Front has become one of the symbols of mistrust between Pakistan and Afghanistan. After the withdrawal of foreign forces, Pakistan has very sweet dreams to follow with its Neighbour Afghanistan. Pakistan was one of the first countries who recognized the Afghan Taliban government after it formed on September 7, 2021. TTP had the worst confrontation with Pakistan after its formation in 2007, but eventually, things began to settle down when TTP leaders and Pakistan reached an agreement to cease fire. The agreement was broken in November last year when TTP launched operations against the Pakistan army. Recent attacks on the Pakistan army in the region of FATA and Balochistan are proof that TTP was not merely against Pakistan’s support to Washington in Afghanistan, but the organisation is against the existence of Pakistan. The Afghanistan government is in the full support of TPP leaders as the attacks are being done from the very territory under the control of the Afghanistan Taliban. Pakistan has asked for the handover of terrorists who are responsible for the attack on Pakistan security forces, but the Afghan government turned deaf ears when asked about the handover. Pakistan’s limited tank of patience is overflowing now especially after the 12 December attack on Pakistan’s armed forces killing 23 soldiers with a suicide attack. The responsibility for the attack was taken by Terik e Jihad e Pakistan (TJP).
The terrorists are angry over Pakistan’s fencing on the Pak-Afghan border, the annulment of fata to KPK,and most importantly to introduce Islamic form of government in Pakistan. After the haste withdrawal of US forces in Aug 2021, they left almost 7.12 billion$ worth of weapons behind in Afghanistan. These weapons include surveillance equipment, short-range guns, and most importantly the knowledge and skills they have imparted to Afghan forces in the form of making bombs and many more. Now these skills and weapons both are huge headaches for Pakistan security forces. Although these skills and military training were imparted to Afghan security forces, as we all are now clear the distinction between TTP and Taliban groups has faded away. Us military forces have one of the best weapons and training techniques and they get into terrorists’ minds then the outcomes are not worth watching. One example can be the Kandahar base of allied forces in Afghanistan. This base was established in the Kandhar area just close enough to the Chaman border of Pakistan, and recently we have seen the illegal distribution of weapons in Pakistan through the Chaman border. On 13 Dec 2023 just after the deadliest attack on Pakistan forces in Dera Ismail Khan a truck full of us made weapons was caught by security forces which, which was supposed to be delivering onions. These weapons were part of the 7.12 billion$ US leftover during withdrawal. This clearly shows that the weapons that were meant to be under the control of Afghan security forces are being delivered to terrorists present in Pakistan. But what can be the future of Pak-Afghan relations in the shadows of
terrorism when both countries see each other with mistrust? Pakistan is being targeted by India in the east and by terrorists and Afghans in the west and we can not have a war with both at the same time. So now Pakistan is trying to be diplomatic with Afghanistan and asking for terrorists’ handover. But as we all know this diplomacy seems not to be working with a nation that only knows how to be violent. Pakistan cannot sit idle, and see its soldiers being killed by terrorists, and then the terrorists are being fled to Afghan territories where Pakistan forces are not allowed to intervene. Pakistan is surely going to respond to such hide-and-seek. The future of Pakistan and Afghanistan is not very bright if we look at the current situation.
Author is a student of BS-IR at National Defence University Islamabad
