The level of aggression between Kabul and Islamabad has risen to a nine-year high, and Pakistan's hopes that the new regime in Afghanistan would be more cooperative have so far proved to be in vain.
This was reported by UNN with reference to the FT.
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According to the Islamabad Center for Security Studies and Research, in 2024, terrorist attacks in Pakistan killed more than 2,500 civilians, security personnel and representatives of militant organizations, which is 66% more than in 2023, - many of them were killed by militant groups based in Afghanistan.
According to the Financial Times, since the Taliban took control of Kabul in 2021, then-Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan has praised Afghanistan for breaking the “shackles of slavery.
Director General of Pakistan's Inter-Services Intelligence Khana Faiz Hamid was photographed having tea with Islamist militant leaders in a Kabul hotel. Asim Munir, Chief of Staff of the Pakistan Army, called Afghanistan a “brotherly neighbor”.
Islamabad hoped that supporting the Afghan Taliban during its twenty-year insurgency-including providing sanctuary, weapons, funding, and medical care-would give it an advantage and protection along their shared 2,600-kilometer border.
But as violence has risen to a nine-year high, Islamabad's hope that the new regime would prove a more cooperative ally than its U.S.-backed predecessor has given way to security concerns.
“Pakistan is losing patience with the Afghan Taliban, who refuse to take action against the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), also known as the Pakistani Taliban,” said Asif Durrani, Pakistan's former special representative for Afghanistan, who left the post in September.
“They have done nothing but behave like ostriches burying their heads in the sand when we show them evidence that terrorism comes from their borders.
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The actions of the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), a terrorist organization in Pakistan and Afghanistan (founded in 2007):
The TTP has historical ties to the regime in Kabul and al-Qaeda, but operates independently. Recently, the organization's actions have caused concern among foreign investors and considerable outrage in China.
Increased attacks by the group, which is trying to impose its brand of harsh Sharia law in Pakistan's tribal border areas, have shaken investor confidence in Islamabad. Chinese workers have also been targeted by separatist militants, which has angered Chinese officials and jeopardized Beijing's $60 billion Belt and Road Initiative projects in the country.
A UN Security Council report published in July 2024 states that at least 6,000 Taliban fighters are currently operating from Afghanistan. According to analysts, the resurgence of the group, which is partly fueled by modern weapons, has negated much of the progress Pakistan had made in the fight against the Taliban by 2021.
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Pakistan tried to put pressure on the Taliban to curb the TTP. Islamabad has launched air strikes on hideouts in Afghanistan, where Pakistani security forces claim that TTP militants are hiding.
(Pakistan) has adopted a military approach to the TTP, but it has not been successful”,
He stated that the attacks are carried out by groups based in tribal areas inside Pakistan.
“Islamabad should reconsider its approach and adopt a more realistic approach aimed at solving the Taliban problem,” he emphasized.