Demarche to Kabul

By issuing a demarche, Pakistan has now officially blamed Kabul for its complicity with the terror nexus. The Afghan deputy head of mission in Pakistan was summoned to the Foreign Office yesterday to share explicit concerns over the Taliban regime's inaction to flush out unscrupulous elements from the Afghan soil.

The Bajaur attack is at the centre stage of the protest, wherein terrorists from across the western frontier had rammed an explosives-laden vehicle into a security check-post, resulting in the martyrdom of at least 11 soldiers. In the ensuing exchange of fire, a large number of Khawarij were taken out. This attack, coupled with several more in K-P and Balochistan, had its resource base in Afghanistan, and the TTP sits at the pinnacle of masterminding and executing bloodshed inside Pakistan.

Islamabad's restlessness with Kabul is understandable, as the latter is maintaining silence over a host of proven interferences from across the border. TTP, Al-Qaeda, ISIK and many more terrorist outfits enjoy a safe haven in Afghanistan, and according to a UN report, many of them are in the business of providing mercenaries for death and destruction.

Twice in its investigative dossier has the world body pin-pointed at Kabul for laxity and for not abiding by the Doha Accord to rein in terror elements. Moreover, the extremism in vogue at the governance level has emboldened gun-toting elements to hold the society hostage and subsequently operate unchecked across the frontiers. The closure of border crossings was, thus, necessitated to check the blatant intrusion.

Kabul should read the demarche in the backdrop of Defence Minister Khwaja Asif's warning of hot pursuit in the event of things getting worse. Pakistan, under the injunctions of self-defence in line with Article 51 of the UN Charter, has the right to retaliate and go after the faceless enemy.

The cool that Pakistan has been keeping by giving diplomacy a chance must be appreciated by Afghanistan, and reciprocated with seriousness to find a solution to the reigning revulsion. The nefarious Indo-Afghan designs to bleed Pakistan are now common knowledge, soliciting action at the global level.