Daily Times

Pakistani authorities would have been a little let down by the Afghan Taliban’s reply to their request of reining in TTP (Tehreek e Taliban Pakistan) elements on their side of the border. While Islamabad would have expected the Taliban to say that the formal decision would come after the formation of the formal government there, and that they would not allow their soil to be used against the interests of another country, it would still have been a little taken aback by the reply that “it is dependent upon Pakistan, and Pakistani ulema, not the Taliban, to decide wither or not the TT’s war is legitimate and to formulate a strategy in response.”

This is hardly a resounding endorsement of Pakistan’s position, where the government as well as clergy have long since dubbed the TTP’s crusade anti-government as well as un-Islamic, which formed the basis of military operations Zarb-e-Azb and Rudd-ul-Fasaad that wiped the country clean of TTP terrorists and would have ended them there and then had they not been able to melt across the Durand Line and take sanctuary in Afghanistan. That particular situation suited the previous Afghan government, and its Indian friends and enablers, quite handsomely because TTP mercenaries were used to carry out terrorist activities inside Pakistani territory.

Now, though, with the collapse of the US-sponsored government in Kabul and the return of the Taliban, especially in light of the promise that the new regime would not tolerate any terrorists on their soil, was increasingly being seen as an opportune moment for Pakistan to press its advantage home. But now it seems we would have to wait for the new government to take final shape in Kabul before any more movement can be expected on this issue. Yet the timing is of the essence. Already the security vacuum that has emerged in Afghanistan has emboldened TTP militias, who have increased terrorist attacks in Pakistan once again.

Surely the government’s security agencies would be in constant contact with their counterparts across the western border, and whatever is needed is being done to make Kabul understand the fragility of the matter. The war with the TTP has already cost the country about 80,000 lives and billions of dollars. And the last thing we need right now is to trigger another useless debate about the so-called legitimacy of one of the most deplorable terrorist groups in the world that not only made their point by killing helpless, unsuspecting civilians, but also boasted about their operation that killed hundreds of school children. The Taliban should take such facts into consideration before making up their mind. *