Daily Times

Nobody expected the Taliban to compromise too much on the momentum of their advances on the ground as foreign troops leave Afghanistan, but the way they have stepped up their military campaign ahead of September 11, when all occupying troops are scheduled to leave the country, has caught more or less everybody by surprise. At first, most security analysts believed that the insurgents would wait till the pullout to exert maximum pressure on President Ghani’s government in Kabul. But now it is clear that they have no intention of wasting any time.

This explains why they have stalled the talks in Doha and decided to up the ante in the war. Quite comically, the foreign media is hell-bent on putting this on Islamabad. Our administration is being accused of funding the Afghan Taliban. Despite the world being fully aware of the havoc wreaked upon us the spillover of Afghan civil, we are somehow being blamed for feeding the fire that wishes to devour us.

First, the rebels took over key border posts, especially important trade gateways like the Tajik crossing. Then, they began capturing cities surrounding Kabul–to starve and storm it when the time is right. Now, in perhaps the clearest signal of their intentions, they have come back to Kandahar, from where their movement first started in the early 1990s. They seized the main Panjwai district just two days after the Americans vacated their headquarter at the Bagram airbase.

These are ominous signs for the government in Kabul as well as its American backers. The situation is made much worse because the Afghan army and special forces operatives seem to have made a habit of just melting away at the first sign of the Taliban. Undoubtedly, this rise and the related failure of US policies in the rugged terrain lies heavily on the shoulders of corrupt Afghan administrations.

It says a lot that the government has lost 10 districts to the Taliban in just three days. And now the panic-stricken residents–reminded of the terror of the old days–have already begun flooding out of Kandahar. However, Pakistan is in no condition to welcome those heading our way with open arms. With around 2.8 million Afghan refugees, we are done playing the good host. Especially, when terrorists in the guise of our guests want to blow us apart.

It is only a matter of time before the situation gets tense at the border with Pakistan. We have repeatedly iterated how our stakes are aligned with the achievement of peace in Afghanistan. Prime Minister Imran Khan said just the other day that border crossings would be closed if the Taliban forced their way into Kabul. Thus, Islamabad will be watching all developments in Afghanistan very closely as the September pullout date approaches. Rather, it will do whatever it can to keep the insurgents from getting ahead of themselves at this sensitive time. From the looks of things, though, it doesn’t seem as if the Taliban are in any mood of backing down just yet: not exactly good news for the whole region.

At the risk of sounding repetitive, true peace prospects can only be realised if the people of Afghanistan are handed the steering wheel. Those with vested interests in Kabul would do better than dragging Pakistan through the mud. Why not act against warlordism and rampant corruption? However, whether the corrupt political elite crippling the peace process is dealt with, Pakistan is not ready to be anyone’s punching bag. We will never be ready for scapegoating endeavours. Talk about peace and we are a team. Anything sinister would not do! *