Daily Times

After an attack by terrorists from the Afghan side of the border on a military check post in Tirah Valley of Khyber Agency that resulted in the killing of four troops, Islamabad has lodged a strong protest with Kabul. Pakistan has told Afghanistan that such incidents do not augur well for the positive trajectory of relations between both the states. It has expressed serious reservations over the incident and demanded the Afghanistan government to hold an inquiry into the attack and share the findings with Pakistan. The cross-border attack prompted Pakistan to ask Afghanistan to do more to secure its border and keep a check on militants who are operating from its side and being hosted by the Afghan Haqqani network. About two weeks ago, Kabul had raised the same issue with Islamabad and accused Pakistan of patronising the Taliban who are involved in terrorist activities in Afghanistan. Since the end of the cold war, Pakistan has sunk deeper into a quagmire of violence courtesy its own policies. Both governments blame the other for harbouring Taliban militants along the shared border.

There is no doubt that the attack is the result of the army operation against the Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) in the tribal areas of the country bordering Afghanistan. After Operation Zarb-e-Azb, the militants are fleeing to urban areas of the country or infiltrating into Afghanistan. Now, they occasionally attack security installations and other soft targets. In Afghanistan, they do have the backing of the Haqqani network based in Afghanistan. The strategy that Pakistan applied in Afghanistan in the form of proxy wars has started showing its negative results now. The militants who were pampered by Pakistan have turned into uncontrollable monsters who are threatening the stability of Pakistan. They came into being due to our wrong policies towards neighbouring countries. There is no such example anywhere in the world where a country used the tactic of waging proxy wars to get desirable results. Although in the past, proxy wars provided momentarily successes to the past regimes, yet these non-state actors are now proving the biggest threat to the country’s stability. The present attack is the result of those wrong policies and these incidents would continue unless a unified approach is adopted against all good and bad Taliban. After launching the Taliban in Afghanistan in the past, now we are getting a taste of our own medicine. Pakistan has asked Afghanistan to secure its border and keep control over militants on its side. Only blaming Afghanistan for the situation is not reasonable as we ourselves are responsible for the present scenario. Our government and security agencies need to revisit the whole idea of proxy wars. Pakistan claims that it has been the victim of terrorism. In fact, Pakistan dug a pit for itself and is now paying the price as things have changed.

Pakistan has traditionally backed the Taliban and it is the responsibility of the government to use its influence and push them into talks with Kabul. If Pakistan succeeds in nudging the Taliban to the negotiating table, the dividends of such talks would be enormous. Successful talks would help Pakistan safeguard its own interests in Afghanistan. More importantly, an Afghan Taliban committed to peace with the Afghan government would give Pakistan the freedom to more effectively tackle the various militant factions currently attacking the Pakistani state. In the process, both Pakistan and Afghanistan should be alert to the threat of peace spoilers who come on the stage to derail any peace process. Both the states should persist with the peace process and not let saboteurs be successful in their evil agenda. Lasting peace can come only if Pakistan succeeds in persuading the Taliban to come to the negotiating table. After a peace agreement between the Afghan government and the Taliban, Pakistan would also be able to strike against the TTP militants and restore peace in the country.*