With the Ashraf Ghani-led government collapsing during the US withdrawal last year and the Taliban continuing to occupy large swaths of the country, many Pakistani government and military officials were content with the new situation in Afghanistan. Did.
Rarely a monolithic institution, Pakistan's government and military are made up of diverse communities of competing interests, yet some Pakistanis hold street rallies and the Taliban sit in power. celebrated its return to Then-Prime Minister Imran Khan declared that Afghans had broken "the shackles of slavery", and many Pakistanis said it was a blow to longtime rival India, which had close ties to the former Afghan government. Islamic extremists such as Pakistan's Teherek-e-Taliban (TTP) and Baloch separatists, whose governments have been accused of carrying out cross-border attacks has long been accused of providing sanctuary to Pakistani extremist groups, including
From Islamabad to Rawalpindi, the headquarters of the Pakistani army, hopes were high that the Taliban's sudden return to power would strengthen bilateral ties with Afghanistan. Washington's "respectable" exit strategy.
The Taliban's victory not only emboldened his TTP, once one of the deadliest terrorist groups in the world, to intensify the rebellion against Islamabad, but also the more cautious terrorists from Islamabad. It gave me the confidence to expect good treatment. It's the same with the US attitude towards the Taliban. Border clashes and unprecedented Pakistani airstrikes inside Afghanistan have soured relations between Islamabad and the Taliban.
"The Taliban's ideological, organizational, tribal and personal ties to the TTP, an ideological traveler, are an expression of gratitude to Pakistan for its diplomatic support. It became clear very early on that it would take precedence over the past 20 years, both militarily and institutionally,” said Claude Lachitz, senior strategic analyst at the Australian National University. increase.
“Consequently, counterintuitively, the security situation along the Afghan-Pakistan border has deteriorated since the Taliban, Pakistan's longtime ally of more than 25 years, occupied Kabul.
TTP Gains Momentum and Resurrected
and has long fought for toughening. enforcing Islamic law in the country, releasing members from government custody, and reducing the military presence in the country's former tribal areas.
By mid-2020, the TTP had collapsed under Pakistan's persistent crackdown. U.S. drone strikes have killed former leaders, and internal rifts have allowed extremist factions historically based in Pakistan to steadily surge into the neighboring Afghan border provinces of Kunar and Nangarhar.
and reinventing itself as a well-organized terrorist organization with improved internal cohesion of the TTP. Since July 2020, several TTP factions that have been split since 2014 have reunited, encouraging the participation of al-Qaeda-affiliated and other jihadist groups in Pakistan.
Wooing disgruntled splinter groups, TTP chief Muftinur Wali Mesud said that all groups would remain united just as the Taliban remained united in their fight against US-led forces in Afghanistan. argued that the jihad would only succeed if they united under his one banner against Islamabad.
According to a 5 July report by the United Nations Security Council, the TTP is now the largest component of foreign armed groups in Afghanistan, with between 3,000 and 4,000 fighters. many of whom were released from Afghan prisons shortly after the fall of Kabul.Since Mehsud's reunification efforts, the group is now "more cohesive and poses a greater threat to the region," according to a UNSC report. It shows
Under Mehsud's leadership, the report found thatthe TTP has been "almost more deadly" than any foreign militant group in Afghanistan since the Taliban returned to power in August 2021. It has definitely benefited," he added.
Increased Attacks, Extortion
Attacks in Pakistan have surged since then, dramatically changing the security situation in the region. Pakistan saw a 42% year-on-year increase in terrorist attacks in 2021, with 87 attacks in the TTP alone, according to the Islamabad-based Pak Institute for Peace (PIPS). 158 people were also observed to have died, an 84% increase in attacks compared to 2020.
According to the report, Baloch militants were involved in 63 of the 2021 attacks, resulting in 72 deaths.
In the first six months of 2022, according to a Home Office report released in the Pakistani Senate on 29 July, law enforcement officials It was targeted in 434 attacks. A state bordering Afghanistan.
"In fact, after the Taliban occupied Kabul, the TTP was reborn and its attacks have increased, mainly targeting law enforcement personnel," said the Peshawar-based government involved in counterinsurgency operations. said Shah, a senior police official. Speak on the condition that you use only a single name.
Using phone numbers using Afghan international dialing codes,TTP extorting Pakistani merchants and parliamentarians over the phoneEhsanullah, former spokesperson for TTP Ehsan tweeted on July 25 that the former governor of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa paid $36,350 ($7.5 million). rupees) as protection money for extremist groups.
Taliban reluctant to act
Shortly after Kabul fell, Islamabad ordered Taliban ruler to prevent his TTP leaders from attacking inside Pakistan urged to do so. Taliban leaders responded by asking Islamabad to address his TTP grievances directly and offering to broker negotiations.
"Islamabad should be aware that it may put pressure on the Taliban regime to take action against his TTP," said the ongoing between Islamabad and his TTP. said a Pakistani religious scholar involved in Taliban-brokered peace talks.
“Foreign extremist groups such as the Taliban, the TTP, and the East Turkestan Islamic Movement are part of a large al-Qaeda-led jihad network that helps the Taliban capture most people. "Part of Afghanistan," said the scholar, who spoke to VOA's Urdu service on condition of anonymity for fear of personal reprisals.
Taliban reluctance to act against TTP Pakistan, frustrated by the 47 murdered a person The strike provoked a serious backlash in Afghanistan, with many accusing Pakistan of violating Afghan sovereignty.
The two countries agreed to a ceasefire in early June, but border security remains fragile, according to experts.
"And this is bad news for a country whose economy is in dire straits and desperately seeking foreign investment and financing to support it," said his Rakisits said. "By and large, Pakistan's support for the Taliban has always been bad policy."
Terrorist attacks declined during the ceasefire, but the TTP said he has claimed responsibility for any attacks since 9 May. do not have. Some observers told VOA he fears a return to violence is inevitable if the root causes of extremism are not addressed. I have dealt with it.
May,TTP and Pakistani negotiators maintain indefinite ceasefire until agreement is reached to resolve decades-old dispute agreed.
Pete Covas contributed to this report. This story comes from VOA's Urdu service