By: Aasef Chauhdry
Although U.S. officials
justified the drone strike that killed Mullah Mohammed Akhtar Mansur by giving
a lame excuse that the Taliban leader planned to attack American or coalition
forces in Afghanistan. Nevertheless, some observers firmly believe that the
secretive operation that embattled the extremist at a southwest Pakistan
hideout represents a shift in how the White House plans to execute the
long-running war. The Defense Department repeatedly insisted that they had
intelligence that Mansur was actively preparing for some kind of attack that
would have likely killed U.S. or coalition soldiers based in Afghanistan –
providing the authority to kill him – even though he was in a foreign country
at the time. Rules of engagement prohibit targeting Taliban leaders offensively
while the US military insisted that the strike corresponded to its policy of
protecting Americans and U.S. partners against direct threats.
The Taliban, who emerged
as a major force in Afghanistan, during the raging civil war which took a toll
of millions of lives, were blamed for their oppressive policies. They reigned
after assuming control of nearly 95 percent of Afghan territory and were led by
the cleric Mullah Muhammad Omar. When the Taliban refused to hand over Osama
bin Laden, the alleged architect of the 9/11 attacks, the US forces and their
allies invaded Afghanistan. Pakistan, which was the supporter of the Taliban,
was forced and blackmailed to abandon the Taliban midstream and side with the
US. Unfortunately, the US and the allied forces with a great strength and a
large number of soldiers failed to hold back the Taliban. Regrouping, the
Taliban inflicted devastation on the Allied forces and when the going got
tough, looking for pleas to justify their failures, the US started blaming
Pakistan for siding with the Taliban. Pakistan was accused of clandestinely
supporting the Taliban in their raids on allied forces in Afghanistan and for
providing them a safe haven in Pakistan. However, the fact is that the TTA
(Tehreek-e-Taliban Afghanistan) is very much operative in most of the places of
Afghanistan and is running a parallel govt there. They have their own legal
system/ legislation and own control and incidentally they are controlling the
most part of Afghanistan.
Last month, the Taliban
had refused to sit face-to-face with the government in Kabul under the
quadrilateral process comprising Afghanistan, Pakistan, China and the United
States. Following the refusal, President Ghani has been under pressure to
change his policy on peace and reconciliation with the militant group. In sheer
frustration, he is treading the path that was followed by his predecessor,
which bore no fruit. Since the Karzai era, a sinking economy, perpetuating
corruption and inept security agencies have stained Afghanistan’s domestic
environment. No wonder the fault lines that prompt Afghan leadership towards
blaming Pakistan for everything that could go wrong in Afghanistan are
snowballing. At a time when President Ashraf Ghani should be unveiling a viable
political framework for talks with the Afghan Taliban, he has taken a yet
harsher stance against Pakistan and the Taliban that could further complicate
the peace process. The bitter truth is that the TTA leadership is located/
based in Afghanistan and exercising strict control in most parts of
Afghanistan. After the Taliban claimed responsibility for the attack outside a
building of the National Directorate for Security (NDS) in Kabul on April 19,
that killed 64 people and injured more than 300 others, Ghani addressed the
joint session of Afghan parliament. He retraced from ongoing attempts to engage
Taliban in peace talks. He also articulated executing enemies of state and
undertaking preparations for an extended war. Ashraf Ghani who seems to be now
a hostage to a camp, said that Afghanistan faced a terrorist enemy led by
Taliban “slaves” in Pakistan. He branded the insurgents as criminals, fighting
the legitimate government. the attack on NDS headquarters became perhaps the
only issue on which the otherwise divided leadership of the disunited Afghan
government stands united — blame Pakistan for all failures of Afghan security
forces and their American mentors. By playing cat and mice and by annoying
Taliban through their underhand methods the US and Afghanistan is only adding
fuel to the fire. There is still a silver lining and that is the back channel
contacts to convince the Taliban to restart the peace process are still
functional but that can only work if the Americans will play fair.
According to a statement
issued by the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR), expressing his serious
concern on the US drone strike in Balochistan as a violation
of Pakistan’s sovereignty, the army chief highlighted as to how it had
impacted the mutual trust and was counterproductive in consolidating the
gains of Operation Zarb-e-Azb. Gen. Raheel Sharif said all
efforts for durable peace in the region have to be synergized with shared
commitment…all stakeholders need to understand Pakistan’s challenges with
regard to porous border, inter-tribal linkages and decades-old presence of
over three million refugees.
Blaming Pakistan for
instability in Afghanistan is unfortunate. Raising the demand
of targeting TTP and Mullah Fazalullah in their bases
in Afghanistan, the army chief reiterated Pakistan’s resolve not to allow
hostile intelligence agencies’ efforts, especially RAW and NDS, of
fomenting terrorism…Pakistan is committed to work for a long term peace process
for Afghanistan under the Quadrilateral Coordination Group framework.” The
Americans always have the option to target their enemies wherever they are,
however, just keeping their eyes closed until they don’t enter Pakistan
territories sounds weird and highly unfair. The point is that they may have had
visited Pakistan under the garb of Afghan refugees for medical treatment, as
thousands of other Afghans are also illegally residing in Pakistan under the
cover of refugees while many of them are RAW and NDS agents but the fact is
that Taliban undoubtedly remain operational in Afghanistan and cause pain to
the Afghans, Indians and the Americans.
The US demands from
Pakistan not to support Taliban or Haqqani group but irony is that when
Pakistan asked the world to help Pakistan in sending millions of Afghan back
then this logical demand is out rightly ignored by everyone. Early and
immediate return of Afghan refugees and better border management/ control is
essential and the only solution.
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