Harsh words, no solutions: Pak-Afghan mistrust grows

Pakistan and the Afghan interim government have once again exchanged harsh statements this week, signalling continued deep mistrust between the uneasy neighbors over militancy.

Afghan Foreign Ministry spokesman Abdul Qahar Balkhi Balkhi came up with an angry response on February 11 to Pakistan Permanent Representative Munir Akram’s claim about the presence of over two dozen militant groups in Afghanistan and threats to Pakistan, the region and beyond. On his part, Balkhi claimed that “perpetrators of any incident that happened in Afghanistan entered the country from across the Durand Line”. Afghan officials call the border with Pakistan as Durand Line while Pakistan says it is an internationally recognized border.

It seems the Afghan spokesman Balkhi has shown sheer disappointment at Ambassador Munir Akram’s remarks about the threat of Daesh or the Islamic State-Khorasan in Afghanistan. Balkhi insisted that safe heavens of Daesh and other groups have been “completely eliminated” in Afghanistan after the takeover of the Islamic Emirate and there has been no threat to any country from the Afghan soil.

Daesh claimed a deadly suicide attack outside a bank in Kunduz in northern Afghanistan just a day after Balkhi’s claim, which killed and injured Taliban members, guards of the Kabul Bank and locals. Daesh could be the main suspect of another suicide attack on the Ministry of Urban Development in Kabul on Feb 13, which killed a Taliban member and injured several civilians. Some reports suggested that deputy minister Arsala Kharoti also received minor injuries in the attack, however, Taliban officials did not officially offer any comments on the injuries to the deputy minister. Nearly a month ago, a Daesh suicide bomber took the life of Minister for Refugee and Repatriation Khalil Haqqani, the uncle of Interior Minister Sirajuddin Haqqani. Although the Taliban carried out many targeted operations against the ISKP in Kabul and other parts of the country, the claim of completely eliminating the group is contrary to the ground realities.

Political parties support dialogue with Afghanistan

In Pakistan, several political parties and the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government back negotiations with the Afghan interim government despite a belief in the country that the Afghan Taliban rulers do not listen to Pakistan. Aftab Sherpao, chief of the Qaumi Watan Party, says that almost all political leaders pressed for dialogue with Kabul in a meeting with the Army Chief General Asim Munir in Peshawar on January 16. The Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government is now pushing for talks with the Afghan Taliban officials through a Jirga or council of elders. Jirgas have played a key role in the past, so this process should be used for solutions to security issues. But those people should be part of the Jirgas who are listened to on both sides of the border.

Although Afghan officials argue that TTP is Pakistan’s internal problem, Islamabad does not agree with this notion. Security officials have time and again stated that the TTP and other groups fighting Pakistani forces “use their sanctuaries” in Afghanistan. In March last year, the Foreign Office said that certain elements within the Afghan Taliban use Pakistani groups as proxies. Concerns are also increasing in Pakistan over the joining of Pakistani groups by the Afghan Taliban members, despite an early religious edict by the Taliban Islamic scholars that fighting in other countries is “NOT Jihad”. That decree was not Pakistan’s specific but that was mainly for Pakistan as Afghan Taliban leaders had concerns that some of their members could join the TTP, Hafiz Gul Bahadur groups and other Pakistani armed groups. It seems that some Afghan Taliban figures do not give attention to the decree.

The use of force on the other side of the border should be avoided as it spoils the atmosphere for engagement with Afghanistan. Despite Pakistan’s efforts to bring relations with Afghanistan to normal after the Dec 24 airstrikes in Paktika province, the Afghan side has shown a lukewarm response to these efforts. Afghan officials seemed unwilling to sit again with Pakistan shortly and they would definitely want a guarantee that whatever had happened in December should not be repeated.

Defending his stance about Daesh and other groups in Afghanistan, Pakistan’s permanent representative Munir Akram referred to the latest report of the Secretary General on the threat posed by Daesh to international peace and security.     

“There are all over two dozen terrorist groups operating inside Afghanistan, also the “main hub for ISIL-K’s recruitment and facilitation” as confirmed by the Monitoring Team’s report and I would like to repeat that Afghanistan is the main hub of recruitment of ISIL-K/Daesh and we reject any imputation that there is any such recruitment in Pakistan,” Ambassador Akram said at the UN Security Council Briefing on “Threats to international peace & security caused by terrorist acts” on Feb 10.

Both countries cannot solve security issues through blame games but must pursue the path of dialogue instead of insinuations. Criticism and counter-criticism will further deteriorate the already tense relationship.

Just a day after the Pakistani representative spoke at the UN meeting, the ISKP claimed responsibility for a suicide attack at the entrance to a bank in the northern city of Kunduz city, killing and injuring dozens, including Taliban officials, who were there to draw salaries, according to a police spokesman in the region.

The Taliban spokesmen always argue that they are not responsible for whatever happens within the Pakistani border. So then how the Afghan foreign ministry spokesman links every violent incident in Afghanistan to Pakistan? If they shift the responsibility of violence in Pakistan to the authorities here, then the same rules apply in Afghanistan.

Due to these contradictions in approaches, both Pakistan and Afghanistan should sit face-to-face and try to find a solution to the issue instead of hurling accusations. There is no other way. Both always speak about maintaining good brotherly relations, but this has yet to happen.

Web Desk