A very silent war
We may be able to combat a nuclear war, but the Taliban issue is our weakest spot, an Achilles’ heel for Pakistan.
The writer served as member of the National Assembly for the MQM four times
The war on the Pakistan-Afghanistan border has been going on for the last two to three years, or perhaps longer. Frequently, a landmine is detonated, firing occurs, or there is a suicide bombing on Nato forces in Kabul, Kandahar or Jalalabad, by the Taliban. Pat comes the reply within a few hours, in the very same coin, in Pakistan’s cities with attacks on our security apparatus. The sufferers are usually innocent Pakistanis. But for how long will this continue?
This is due to a taciturn confrontation between the state agencies of Pakistan and the proverbial powerful agencies of the West in Afghanistan. Don’t our decision-makers on national security think there is a great flaw? It must be rectified.
The Afghans have nothing to lose. They have suffered almost every brick of their country’s structure and seen it demolished in the two most destructive civil wars since 1979. Now, the tide is turning towards Pakistan and it will, very soon, become a tsunami. Yesterday, it was Pakistan that was winning in Afghanistan. It is no longer doing so, as now, we are on the receiving end.
On May 16, two American military vehicles in Kabul were rammed by a Taliban suicide bomber in a car packed with heavy explosives. Six American troops were killed on the spot. The response in Pakistan was expected and it was swift — within four to five hours. The target was a military convoy that was ambushed on Kohat Road, Peshawar. Several soldiers died and others were seriously injured. A second attack was directed at a police station in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa injuring several cops. These two incidents occurred within five to six hours of each other.
In a third attack, on May 17 — a Friday afternoon — two huge bombs exploded in two separate mosques, killing at least 20 persons.
The Hizb-e-Islami and its leader, Gulbuddin Hekmatyar, are the main culprits behind the Kabul bombing. Their spokesman, Haroon Zarghon, owned the Kabul attack. Their anger came from the discovery that US forces plan to stay in substantial numbers in Afghanistan for an indefinite period of time.
Pakistan’s concerns are rich with sarcasm. For more than a decade, American, Western and Afghan leaders have accused Pakistan of sheltering Taliban commanders leading the war against US forces. Now, it is Pakistan that is the crankiest.
The situation on the Pakistan-Afghanistan border is very grim. A substantial number of our troops have been deployed on our western borders after withdrawing them from the eastern border. And they continue to be withdrawn. But one thing is clear now. We have to take a decision about our internal policies about the Taliban and other jihadi outfits before the US withdrawal, set for 2014. Because, after the US withdrawal from Afghanistan, Pakistan is going to face hoards of Afghan Taliban — not only in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa but also in the farthest, southernmost urban regions of the country — carrying out terrorist activities.
We may be able to combat a nuclear war, but the Taliban issue is our weakest spot — sort of the Achilles’ heel of Pakistan.
Published in The Express Tribune, May 27th, 2013.
This is due to a taciturn confrontation between the state agencies of Pakistan and the proverbial powerful agencies of the West in Afghanistan. Don’t our decision-makers on national security think there is a great flaw? It must be rectified.
The Afghans have nothing to lose. They have suffered almost every brick of their country’s structure and seen it demolished in the two most destructive civil wars since 1979. Now, the tide is turning towards Pakistan and it will, very soon, become a tsunami. Yesterday, it was Pakistan that was winning in Afghanistan. It is no longer doing so, as now, we are on the receiving end.
On May 16, two American military vehicles in Kabul were rammed by a Taliban suicide bomber in a car packed with heavy explosives. Six American troops were killed on the spot. The response in Pakistan was expected and it was swift — within four to five hours. The target was a military convoy that was ambushed on Kohat Road, Peshawar. Several soldiers died and others were seriously injured. A second attack was directed at a police station in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa injuring several cops. These two incidents occurred within five to six hours of each other.
In a third attack, on May 17 — a Friday afternoon — two huge bombs exploded in two separate mosques, killing at least 20 persons.
The Hizb-e-Islami and its leader, Gulbuddin Hekmatyar, are the main culprits behind the Kabul bombing. Their spokesman, Haroon Zarghon, owned the Kabul attack. Their anger came from the discovery that US forces plan to stay in substantial numbers in Afghanistan for an indefinite period of time.
Pakistan’s concerns are rich with sarcasm. For more than a decade, American, Western and Afghan leaders have accused Pakistan of sheltering Taliban commanders leading the war against US forces. Now, it is Pakistan that is the crankiest.
The situation on the Pakistan-Afghanistan border is very grim. A substantial number of our troops have been deployed on our western borders after withdrawing them from the eastern border. And they continue to be withdrawn. But one thing is clear now. We have to take a decision about our internal policies about the Taliban and other jihadi outfits before the US withdrawal, set for 2014. Because, after the US withdrawal from Afghanistan, Pakistan is going to face hoards of Afghan Taliban — not only in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa but also in the farthest, southernmost urban regions of the country — carrying out terrorist activities.
We may be able to combat a nuclear war, but the Taliban issue is our weakest spot — sort of the Achilles’ heel of Pakistan.
Published in The Express Tribune, May 27th, 2013.