With a surge in Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) attacks on areas of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Province, the tension between the Taliban and Pakistan has risen again. Pakistani Ministry of Foreign Affairs has summoned the Taliban ambassador, asking the group to hand over the TTP leaders to Islamabad. Previously, John Achakzai, the Minister of Information of Balochistan province of Pakistan, in response to the recent attacks of Tehreek Jihad Pakistan, which is reported to be a branch of TTP, has called for the country’s army to attack targets in Afghanistan. The Taliban, however, in response to the recent statements of Pakistani officials, criticized Pakistan’s government for its failure to provide security for its citizens, adding that they are not responsible for establishing security in that country.
With the re-establishment of the Taliban in Afghanistan, contrary to what Pakistani officials and observers expected, the relations between the Taliban and the Pakistani government were not only satisfactory for both sides but with the escalation of TTP activities and border conflicts, Pakistan’s relations with the Taliban became more tense. This resulted in the government of Islamabad trying to punish the Taliban by starting the process of mass deportation of Afghan refugees. This anti-human act, which caused widespread global reactions, is the only decision that the Pakistani government has implemented thus far to punish the Taliban for not fulfilling their demands. This action adversely affected the refugees more than the Taliban regime in Kabul.
With all the big boasts and warnings of starting military operations with the aim of “eradicating terrorism” in Afghanistan, the government of Pakistan has so far only punished those who have no role in the terrorist and destructive activities of the Taliban, their like-minded and allied groups. But they are the first victims of Islamic extremism, which the Pakistani army has nurtured and managed since the time of the Soviet presence in Afghanistan. Both the Mujahideen during the jihad and the Taliban during the American presence played the role of proxy forces of the Pakistani army. Islamic State-Khorasan (ISIS-K) has promoted the policy of destruction of Afghanistan through these proxy forces. However, the growth of terrorism does not always bring about the desired results for the owners of this deadly industry. The interpretation of a poem by Nasser Khosrow clearly expresses the current situation of the Pakistani military, which says that the charming snake will be ultimately killed by its offspring.
The poisonous snakes that bite Pakistan’s army hard today were bred in the lap of Pakistani Inter-Service Intelligence (ISI) religious schools to carry out the project of brutality and killing in Afghanistan. Now this country has been “conquered” by the proxy group of ISI. Where all these terrorists who were raised in religious schools under the control of the Pakistani military for blowing themselves up to fulfill the duty of “Jihad for God’s sake”, should achieve the “high position of martyrdom”? If the Jihad in Afghanistan is over, how can the thirst for “martyrdom” of thousands of suicide bombers be quenched? At present, Pakistan seems a better place for launching jihad, as the established government is not Islamic from the point of view of the Taliban, and for this reason, it should be overthrown. Religious schools in Pakistan have reached such a level of mass production of suicide bombers and terrorists that now even the ISI as the chief intelligence officer is unable to control it. Especially when the Taliban in Afghanistan, away from the shadow and domination of the ISI, and relying on their own needs through the establishment of religious schools, produce suicide bombers and terrorists, which makes the task of managing terrorism difficult even for the Taliban.
The control of the terror industry has long been lost at the hands of the Pakistani army. This is because the proxy regime of ISI in Afghanistan now manages other proxy groups. Yesterday’s mercenary is today’s master, and yesterday’s master has no choice but to recognize yesterday’s mercenary, who has now broken the leash, to remain the master and ask for help. The half-hearted boasts of the Pakistani government and the Taliban’s disregard for Islamabad’s pressures are a sign of the looming crisis in the management of the terror industry, which is caused by the conflict over the leadership and management of this industry. ISI is still trying to control the leadership of terrorist groups, including the Taliban, and not let these groups do anything independently. Pakistan’s insistence on the Taliban to fight the TTP shows that the Pakistanis want to control the reins of the Taliban as before. But this group is not willing to be mercenaries like in the past and wants a change in the leadership of terrorism. Because the Taliban are currently running a country, ISI should not look at them like an old subordinate and mercenary.
In this regard, Zalmay Khalilzad, the former representative of the US Department of State for Afghanistan’s reconciliation, has recently called for the start of direct talks between the Taliban and the government of Pakistan regarding the TTP and Islamic State-Khorasan (ISIS-K). This seasoned and experienced American agent, who has deep knowledge of Islamic extremist groups, has most likely realized that the crisis of terrorism management is very serious. However, the Pakistani military does not like to understand this fact. They still insist on making the Taliban subservient to them, while the Taliban is not a group that was supported by the Westerners in Afghanistan before the fall of the government. This group now runs a country expecting to be treated like a government. Another thing that the Pakistani Army does not want to know and still insists on is achieving strategic depth in Afghanistan. Therefore, the Pakistani military is constantly trying to establish a regime in Afghanistan that is dependent on Islamabad. However, if we look at today’s events, we find that on the contrary, it was the Taliban who have turned Pakistan into their strategic depth. The Taliban used Pakistan as a strategic refuge in the last twenty years. It was serving as a place where after every failure, they took refuge reinforcing themselves. Now, by supporting TTP, they want to have a refuge for themselves in the tribal areas of Pakistan, so that if they are expelled from Afghanistan, they can go to those areas and mobilize their forces again to attack Afghanistan.
