Terrorists in Afghanistan

Several Pakistani soldiers, security officials have been martyred in militant attacks

Anew UN report says that more than 6,000 anti-Pakistan militants are hiding out in Afghanistan, mostly members of the banned Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP). The report by the UN analytical and sanctions monitoring team, which tracks terrorist groups around the world, also notes that TTP’s members have established ties with Daesh, and some have even joined that terrorist group. It says that members of the Balochistan Liberation Army and other groups that terrorise Pakistan are also included in the count. The UN report estimates that there are around 2,200 Daesh members in Afghanistan, including “between 150 and 200 members from Bangladesh, India, Myanmar, and Pakistan”, along with its Syrian leader Abu Said Mohammad al Khorasani. It says that senior Daesh commanders Abu Qutaibah and Abu Hajar al Iraqi are also currently in Afghanistan. It also notes that apart from the US, Nato, and Afghan forces, the Afghan Taliban have also played a significant role in beating back Daesh.

The Afghan government, unsurprisingly, has no comment for any media on the revelation that their soil is still actively being used to terrorise Pakistan, or even to credit their own countrymen in the Afghan Taliban. This reflects the Afghan government’s refusal to accept help, even when that help is good for everyone in the region. The fact of the matter is that several Pakistani soldiers and other security officials have been martyred in militant attacks in the past weeks and months alone. While it cannot be said with certainty that these were all from groups and militants based in Afghanistan, it can be confidently said that at least some of that attacks would not have happened if the Afghan government actually cared about peacemaking rather than retaining power. Instead, Afghanistan spent the weekend complaining to the UN about Pakistan allegedly firing rockets at terrorists across the Afghan border.

The Afghans called them “illegal and provocative activities in our sovereign territory”. Never mind that it is territory that, in the best-case scenario, they either have no writ over, or, in the worst case, they do, and are actively granting terrorists safe haven there.

Published in The Express Tribune, July 28^th, 2020.

Like Opinion & Editorial on Facebook, follow @ETOpEd on Twitter to receive all updates on all our daily pieces.