Taliban's 'unbreakable' ties with TTP

Last week, DG ISPR Lt Gen Ahmed Sharif addressed a news conference in Rawalpindi. Media mostly focused on his remarks on the prevailing political environment including the court martial proceedings against former ISI Chief Lt Gen (retd) Faiz Hameed. Less was said or commented on what the military spokesperson stated on Afghanistan. The relations between Pakistan and Afghanistan have remained tense due to the presence of the outlawed Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) on the Afghan soil. The number of terrorist attacks has only gone up since the return of the Taliban to Afghanistan in August 2021. This was the factor also highlighted by the DG ISPR in his press conference.

Pakistan had huge expectations that the Taliban's return at the helm would neutralise the terror outfits operating from Afghanistan with the funding and support of hostile agencies. However, TTP and its affiliates have emerged even stronger under the Taliban rule. This pushed Pakistan to adopt a hardline stance and publicly criticise the Afghan Taliban, once dubbed as Islamabad's proxy. Pakistan linked any future cooperation with the Afghan Taliban taking a decisive action against the TTP and other terrorist outfits. However, the Kabul regime refused to budge from its stance and emphasised that TTP is Pakistan's internal problem.

In reaction, Pakistan took a raft of measures to penalise the interim Taliban government. For example in October last year, Pakistan launched a drive against what it called against illegal Afghans residing in the country. Similarly, Pakistan imposed restrictions on Afghan transit trade. At the same time Islamabad stopped supporting the Afghan Taliban government at all international forums. The contacts between the two countries were minimal. Islamabad told the UN that Afghan Taliban's recognition should be linked to complete elimination of terrorist sanctuaries. Pakistan sided with the international community particularly with the West on the issues of women and human rights. Policymakers in Islamabad and Rawalpindi were hoping that these moves would compel the hardline Taliban government to mend its ways. But those measures could not make any difference as terrorist attacks from across the border continued to surge.

In what seems an apparent failure to persuade the Taliban on the TTP issue, Pakistan is now compelled to revisit its strategy. This policy shift was visible during the press conference of DG ISPR. Unlike in the past, his tone was more conciliatory now, describing Afghanistan as Islamic and brother country.

"Afghanistan is our brotherly Islamic country, and we have always supported it in difficult times. We want Afghanistan not to give preference to terrorists over Pakistan. These terrorists have no connection with Islam, humanity, or tribal values. Pakistan and Afghanistan are in contact on many issues and have good relations. Those who believe they can create misunderstandings between these two brotherly Islamic nations are mistaken," the DG ISPR remarked.

The change of tactic seems aimed at convincing the Taliban to neutralise the TTP threat. But will the Taliban listen? One view is that given the Taliban's stubborn nature, it is wise to pursue an engagement policy instead of intimidation. But others feel that Taliban would be emboldened with the change of approach by Pakistan. Just hours after the DG ISPR presser, the Taliban released a documentary on one of their senior commanders, who was killed in a drone strike in North Waziristan in 2013. Mullah Sangeen Fateh, senior commander of the Haqqani network, was known as Taliban's suicide chief. What was significant in the documentary was that the Taliban openly admitted their close ties with the TTP. Mullah Sangeen was seen with former TTP chief Hakimullah Mehsud and his deputy Wali-ur-Rehman Mehsud. Taliban could have avoided this but the fact that they released the documentary shows that they publically own their longstanding ties with the TTP. Therefore, irrespective of hard or soft approach, Taliban are unlikely to break their deep connections with the TTP.