Take out dreaded elements

Afghanistan is once again slipping into anarchy. The regrouping of non-state actors in the war-ravaged country and sporadic incidents of violence are quite unnerving. The Taliban rulers seem to be on a losing streak, as in most of the cases they are clueless, and wandering in darkness. Terrorist organisations including al-Qaeda, Islamic State-Khorasan, Daesh and ISIS are constant irritants, and the recent upheavals prove that they are holed pretty deep inside the Afghan fabric. This is where the problem rests, and the United States’ resolve to take them out is set to reorient the security conundrum, by recasting Washington in the region they pulled out from just about a year or so. To what extent this will collaborate with the priorities of the Kabul administration is hard to list out. But what makes it certain is that the United States has found a proactive ground to stage a comeback in Southwest Asia.

The categorical statement from State Department spokesperson Ned Price, during a press briefing on Wednesday, that the United States will tighten the noose around militant groups, including the outlawed Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan, is a new spin. It will technically be a resumption of the war on terrorism, and lead to more human displacement of unscrupulous elements on both sides of the divide. This elicits detailed counter-terrorism cooperation between the member states, and a carefully choreographed plan of action to take out the dreaded terrorist elements. Any trigger-happiness on the part of American forces, as has been the convention previously, will be detrimental and lead to more terrorism in the region. It won’t be easy, nonetheless, to fight it at length at the cost of regional torment.

The December 2 attack on the Pakistan mission in Kabul has drawn widespread condemnation, and the Taliban regime is in a fix. Similarly, the pledge made to the world by the Taliban not to let the Afghan soil be used for cross-border terrorist activities is under severe scrutiny. This is where the Taliban are being seen in a negative light, and their writ to rule is being questioned. It prompted the State Department to conclude that the militant organisations operating in Afghanistan were a common enemy, and the United States and Pakistan have a shared interest in combating them. This puts the Taliban regime too under the scanner, and makes room for covert operations inside the Afghan territory. A prime example is taking out al-Qaeda’s top man Ayman al-Zawahiri in Kabul — and that too to the utter surprise of the Taliban.

Going after the non-state actors is a must, and it would be advisable to take the Taliban government on board before going for it. A solo flight has not been America’s cup of tea.

Published in The Express Tribune, December 10^th, 2022.

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