Iqbal Khan
The United Nations’ 27th Report of the UN Analytical and Monitoring Team, released on February 3, vindicates Pakistan’s longstanding position on threats posed to the country and region by terror outfits like Tehreeke-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), Jamaat-ul-Ahrar (JuA), Hizbul-Ahrar (HuA) and their affiliates based in Afghanistan.
The UN monitoring team is responsible for tracking terrorist groups such as Al Qaeda and Daesh. The report acknowledged the efforts of Pakistan in arresting “individuals engaging in terrorism financing” and clamping down on the assets of said designated “individuals and entities”.
The UN document noted that the TTP was reported to have overseen a reunification of its splinter groups in Afghanistan. The report further revealed that five entities pledged alliance to TTP in July and August 2020. According to the report, the reunification of these terror groups in Afghanistan has amplified the strength of TTP and resulted in a sharp increase in attacks in the region. Pakistan has been raising the issue of cross-border attacks carried out by TTP on its security forces deployed on its side of Pak-Afghan border. Since 2014, Pakistan has lost 83,000 civilians and soldiers in the fight against terrorism, which also caused a massive setback to the country’s economic and social development — to the tune of $126 billion.
According to Reuters, the UN report has noted that reunification of TTP splinter groups in Afghanistan poses a threat to Pakistan and the region. The UN report states that Afghanistan continues to serve as a sanctuary for terror groups, including the TTP.
Pakistan has also been drawing the attention of the international community to the support provided to TTP and its affiliates by the hostile intelligence agencies. One of the results of that support was the merger of splinter groups of LeJ (Lashkare-Jhangvi) with TTP in Afghanistan. According to the document, the reunion of terror groups was moderated by al Qaeda and is expected to increase the threat to Afghanistan, Pakistan and the region. “TTP was responsible for more than 100 cross-border attacks between July and October 2020,” stated the report and further estimated the TTP’s fighting strength to range from 2,500 to 6,000 members.
In November last, Pakistan handed over a dossier to UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres on the Indian sponsorship of TTP and JuA. Both terrorist groups have been designated by the 1267 Sanctions Committee of the Security Council. Islamabad presented a trove of evidence, including details of financial transactions worth millions of dollars, documents, and audio clips and information related to contacts between members of India’s intelligence agencies and militants and terrorist groups. “We knew of India’s hand in such attacks,” Pakistan’s envoy to the UN Munir Akram had said at a press conference after handing over the dossier to the UN secretary-general. “We now have gathered irrefutable evidence that India is engaged in a systematic campaign to destabilise Pakistan through terrorist attacks, promotion of secession and subversion in what is called Hybrid/5th generation war.” India, he said, was also seeking to utilise UNSC mechanisms to defame Pakistan by portraying itself as a victim of terrorism. “It is abusing the forum of Financial Action Task Force (FATF) to damage Pakistan’s economy.” As usual India denies the charge sheet.
On February 07, Special Assistant to the Prime Minister on National Security Moeed Yusuf once again reminded the world that India is conspiring against Pakistan from Afghanistan. Yusuf added that peace in the region depends on India moving in the right direction. In an exclusive interview to Turkish news agency Anadolu, he said, “We even pointed out that India is being a spoiler in Afghanistan, undermining Pakistani sovereignty and stability. That’s the adversity you are dealing with.” Moeed Yusuf went on to say that Pakistan wants peace in the region.
After President Joe Biden took office last month, the US National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan said the US was “taking a hard look at the extent to which the Taliban are complying” with the deal as Washington weighs “our force posture and our diplomatic strategy” in Afghanistan. No US troops have died in combat in Afghanistan for a year, but the Taliban have threatened to target them again if Washington opts to keep international forces in the country after the May withdrawal deadline. Around 2,300 American soldiers have died in Afghanistan since the war began in October 2001.
Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid warned that the insurgents “will definitely return to war” if the US “rejects this deal.” He did not say if the Taliban would be open to pushing back the withdrawal deadline. The deputy head of the Taliban team that negotiated the February 2020 deal, Mohammad Abbas Stanekzai, said last month that if the US-led forces remain in Afghanistan after the May 2021 deadline, “we will also kill them,” Voice of America reported.
Several military officials and lawmakers have said the Talban also agreed verbally to reduce violence in the country, although that is not included in the text of the agreement made public last year. The violence surged during last year and United Nations’ officials have said al-Qaida remains “heavily embedded” with the Taliban.
Keeping troops in Afghanistan beyond May 1 would drag “US troops back into a violent counterinsurgency,” said Adam Weinstein, a former Marine who served in Afghanistan and is now a research fellow for the Middle East at the Washington DC based Quincy Institute for Responsible Statecraft. Having no American combat fatalities for a year was not a guarantee of “diminished risks in the future,” he said.
According to Daniel L. Davis, “First, we have to acknowledge that American combat power has never, does not now, and never will produce a military victory in Afghanistan. Second, American national security is not dependent on keeping US troops on the ground in Afghanistan.
Our security from terrorist attacks worldwide is preserved by our global intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance capacity, paired with an unmatched ability to project power to strike any direct threat to our country, regardless of where the threat emerges. Lastly, pegging the withdrawal of American troops in Afghanistan to a successful peace deal between the Taliban and the Afghan government is not only unnecessary, it is unwise”.
Pakistan has acknowledged UNMT’s efforts in exposing the hostile agencies’ sponsored collusion of anti-Pakistan elements in Afghanistan. Pakistan expects that a dedicated effort will be launched by Afghan National and Defence Security Forces and Resolute Support Mission to neutralise this threat emanating from Afghanistan.
Pakistan has suffered massively in the war against terrorism. Pakistan stands firm in its resolve to partner with international community against the menace of terrorism. While Pakistan has successfully eliminated terrorists from its soil, over the past few months cross-border terrorist attacks from ungoverned spaces in Afghanistan have escalated. As long as Afghanistan is volatile, there will always be enough ungoverned spaces for the terrorists to utilize.
And unless there is a government in Afghanistan that represents true aspirations of Afghan people, the incredible installed legitimacy deficient political dispensations by foreign occupations military would always remain pliable by counties like India, and go along with using Afghan territories as launching pads for terrorist activities in the region.
Writer is a freelance contributor; e-mail: Iqba-l.khan9999@gmail.com.
