Afghanistan is situated at the crossroads of Central Asia and South Asia. It shares 2640 kilometres of its eastern border with Pakistan. Afghanistan gained peculiar importance for Pakistan after the Soviet invasion in 1979. Constantly, for the last 40 years, it has been involved in three wars including the Soviet Invasion, the Afghan Civil War, and the Global War on Terror (US Invasion). Taliban takeover and constant precariousness in Afghanistan have energized terrorist groups – ideologically aligned with the Afghan Taliban – which in turn posed a grave impact on the National Security of Pakistan.
After the US invasion of Afghanistan in 2001 following the 9/11 incident, a Peace Agreement in 2020 was signed between the Taliban and the US in Doha, Qatar ending the 20 years of war. Consequently, the Taliban retook control of Kabul on August 15, 2021.
Tehrik-e Taliban Pakistan (TTP) is an alliance of militant networks formed in 2007 to muster armed opposition against Pakistan and its military. It is a predominantly Pashtun group operating against the state of Pakistan.
The main goals of TTP are given below:
1. To enforce Shariah law in Pakistan by use of force
2. To conduct Jihad against Pakistani security forces
These goals share similarities with the goals of the Afghan Taliban when they were duelling against the US and its allied forces.
The US withdrawal and the Afghan Taliban takeover encouraged and inspired the Pakistani Taliban. Because it is believed that the Taliban defeated the US ? a global superpower. Both Pakistani and Afghan Taliban believe in the armed struggle to establish the supremacy of Islam. This belief provides a shared ideology to both TTP and the Afghan Taliban. They both consider every system, order, and ism which conflicts with Islam and the Islamic Caliphate (Khilafat) as disbelief (Kufr). As the Afghan Taliban defeated the Afghan National Security Forces after the US withdrawal from Afghanistan, TTP started attacking Pakistani Forces. Because TTP and the Afghan Taliban both claim that they will retaliate against anyone who protects, defends, or supports any foreign invasion, troop, or puppet government. Ideological similarities could be seen in the flags of both TTP and the Afghan Taliban. A white background and an imprint of Kalma constitute the flag of both the Afghan Taliban and TTP.
Pakistan cannot allow someone to create chaos, disturb the peace and sanctity of the state and impose its will by the use of force.
TTP is now enjoying free operational movement in the Taliban regime. The Taliban also has released TTP prisoners in Afghanistan including Deputy Ameer Maulvi Faqir Mohammad. TTP celebrated the said move with full zeal and zest and videos went viral on social media. Hussain Haqqani stated in his article published in Foreign Policy on March 03, 2023, that, Pakistan is confronted by violence from Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), a derivative of the Afghan Taliban movement that is culturally and ideologically aligned with them.
After the US withdrawal from Afghanistan, the Taliban were glimpsed as heroes in Pakistan. Social media outlets were overflowed with video clips of the Taliban roaming in the presidential palace in Kabul and celebrating the triumph. They emerged victorious in the eyes of their ideological allies in Pakistan. As a result, the scourge of terrorism has resurfaced again. About 31 terrorist groups have joined hands with TTP since July 2020 and started to revolt against the writ of the state and intensified the armed struggle inspired by the so-called Taliban victory.
TTP and other terrorist organizations are bouncing back with more energy and motivation after the US withdrawal from Afghanistan. The Afghan Taliban and TTP both hold strong beliefs in employing violence to mould the world according to their definition. According to the data revealed by the Security Report 2022 of the Pakistan Institute of Peace Studies, Pakistan faced a 27% increase in terror attacks from the year before.
During August and September 2022, TTP started gathering in the mountainous areas of Swat and Dir, but ISPR rubbished the exaggerated presence of TTP and issued a statement that the Pakistan Army was observing their presence and movement. On November 28, 2022, TTP terminated the cease-fire agreement concluded during Bajwa’s regime, and on November 30, a TTP suicide bomber blasted himself in the vicinity of a Police truck in Balochistan. In the first 4 months of 2023, 265 attacks were conducted by TTP against law enforcement agencies which resulted in 234 casualties and 282 soldiers sustained injuries, according to the media wing of TTP.
The immediate meltdown of the Ghani regime and abrupt Taliban control over Afghanistan without the political settlement of the Afghan conundrum has left issues threatening the national security of Pakistan. Terrorist activities increased in Pakistan after the US withdrawal from Afghanistan.
The main goals of TTP are not aligned with the true essence of the Constitution of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan. Because they challenge the writ of the state and deny to abide by the existing laws. If they want to establish a system purely by their own radical interpretation of Islam, they can choose the prevailing mechanism ? democracy ? to implement their system of government. It is a peaceful way to propagate their views and beliefs.
Pakistan cannot allow someone to create chaos disturb the peace and sanctity of the state and impose its will by the use of force. Pakistan as a state should negotiate with, aimed to maintain peace and establish its writ, TTP if they surrender themselves before the Constitution of Pakistan. If they do not do the same then the government should use force against rebellious activities of TTP and other terrorist organizations inspired by the Afghan Taliban, to maintain and protect the peace and sovereignty of the state. On the other hand, Pakistan should stress the implementation of the commitments made by the Afghan Taliban to resolve the issue of cross-border terrorism and safe sanctuaries for terrorists.
The writer is a student of Strategic Studies at NDU.