Pakistan Reader# 628, 20 July 2023
Sandra Sajeev D Costa
In July, following the terrorist attack on attacked the Zhob garrison in Balochistan where 12 soldiers lost their lives Pakistan accused Afghanistan of fostering a safe haven for the Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP).
Earlier, on 15 July, Pakistan’s Defence Minister Khwaja Asif blamed the terrorists for causing bloodshed in Pakistan were facilitated with refuge in Afghanistan. He reiterated that Pakistan would no longer tolerate it. He said: “50/60 lakh Afghans have 40/50 years of asylum in Pakistan with all rights.”
Why is Pakistan upset with Afghanistan?
1. The failure of Taliban to respect the Doha Agreement
According to a ISPR statement in accordance with the Doha Agreement, Afghanistan must not allow of its soil to be used for any terror activity aimed at any other country. The agreement was signed between the US and Taliban to bring an end to the war in Afghanistan. However, Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid iterated that Afghanistan has not signed the deal with Islamabad and that the former was not fulfilling obligations under the deal. He asserted the link between Afghanistan and Pakistan as “a Muslim and brother country” and that Afghan soil was not being used for attacks in Pakistan. The spokesperson further said, “we will not allow anyone to encroach on our territory.”
2. Increasing attacks in Pakistan and advanced weaponry
Pakistan has been witnessing a sharp rise in attacks in the country especially in the south western Balochistan region as well as the northwestern parts of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. A security official has stated that the sanctuaries and latest weapons are threatening the region’s security. They had night vision scopes and the latest gadgets with American weapons. At Zhob, it was five “highly trained and well-equipped terrorists” who carried out the attacks. On 18 July, there was a suicide bombing at Peshawar’s Hayatabad which killed six Frontier Corps. Although a new group called Tehreek Jihad Pakistan (TJP) claimed responsibility for the attack, a senior officer has said that this could be the Tehreek-i-Taliban itself and that no such group in the former name exists. TTP aims to convert Pakistan into a Sharia-compliant state.
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