Winning the war

We must hope things can move forward from this point on, and the kind of cooperation spoken of turned into reality.


Editorial June 27, 2014

The game of hide and seek constantly played by the militants, who slip back and forth across the porous border with Afghanistan, has been a major factor for years in the failure to win the war against them. The news that Kabul and Islamabad have agreed to act jointly against militants, regardless of which side of the border they are based on, is thus extremely good. The announcement on this was made on June 26, as the two countries decided to establish a joint working group on security. This followed high-level talks in Islamabad between Afghanistan’s National Security Adviser, Dr Rangin Dadfar Spanta, and Pakistan’s top civil and military leadership. Dr Spanta, during his stay, met Army Chief General Raheel Sharif, as well as other officials.



Significantly, the concerns of both sides were spelled out clearly. Afghanistan promised to deal with militants using its soil as hiding places. It is worth noting that these men include Mullah Fazlullah, the current head of the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan, who has been based mainly in Afghanistan since the military operation in Swat in 2009. In turn, Pakistan, frequently accused by Kabul of permitting militant outfits, such as the Haqqani network based in North Waziristan, to use its soil to stage attacks in Afghanistan, stated it would be going after this outfit and others like it.

The setting up of a joint working group on security could mark a key point in a war both nations must win to save themselves. It follows a visit to Afghanistan by the chief of the Pakhtunkhwa Milli Awami Party, Mehmood Khan Achakzai, sent there by the prime minister as his special envoy. The overtures from both sides, coming as a new government takes over in Kabul, seem to have worked. We must hope things can move forward from this point on, and the kind of cooperation spoken of turned into reality so that militants can be more effectively tracked down. This, after all, is the most significant task of all and must take precedence over the games of petty politics both nations have been engaging in for far too long, allowing the militants to make gains as a result.

Published in The Express Tribune, June 28th, 2014.

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COMMENTS (1)

Feroz | 9 years ago | Reply

Have we not heard all these promises of cooperation a million times before. There are dim chances of cooperation when the Haqqani network and Quetta Shura continue to be sheltered in Pakistan. Actions always speak louder than words, as does sincerity rather than duplicity.

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