Afghan Charge d’Affaires Syed Abdul Nasir Yousafi was summoned by the Foreign Office on January 27 to convey Pakistan’s concern regarding the use of Afghan soil by terrorist elements to direct the horrific attack on the Bacha Khan University in Charsadda in which unidentified gunmen opened fire on students and faculty members, leaving at least 21 people dead. This attack, reminiscent of the devastating Army Public School (APS) massacre of December 2014, traces its origins to the same source, with the mastermind of APS, Umar Mansoor of Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) Geedar group claiming responsibility for the attack. As revealed by Director General Inter-Services Public Relations (DG ISPR) Lieutenant-General Asim Saleem Bajwa’s statement on the investigations taking place, the perpetrators were being controlled from Afghan territory and using Afghan cell phone Sims to orchestrate the attack, as revealed by 10 calls made by Mansoor and his deputy Qari Zakir from Afghanistan to the attackers on the day. Of the five facilitators who aided the attackers in crossing the border at Torkham and reaching Mardan, so far four have been arrested. This includes Adil, a mason who had helped draft a map of the institution for the attackers and provided them with a safe house, Riaz and Noorullah who helped transport them to the university, and lastly Adil’s son. However, the fifth principal facilitator along with his wife and niece who had helped obtain weapons are currently on the run, but the DG ISPR assured that they would be tracked down soon. He had pointed out that these terrorist elements were linked to Afghan soil, not the Afghan government, which was not considered to be involved. The Foreign Office has again urged the Afghan government to take prompt action against those responsible and cooperate with Pakistan as needed, considering that all the relevant evidence has been shared with the Afghan diplomat and before that directly with the Kabul government.
The problems apparent in the diplomatic relations between the two countries in the case of the current attack show a repeat of the same contentions that have been left undealt with for long. Pakistan’s demands from Afghanistan equate cooperation with the provision of intelligence and taking of action against the TTP militants involved in the attack. This implies a flawed assumption that the Afghan government is in control of these areas and has the needed information and capability. Even if we assume that it was in its power to take decisive action, in making this demand, the government should consider the difficulty of the task, considering the hold that militancy still has in Afghan territories and the weakened Afghan military with a depleted presence of foreign troops. But the most crucial matter of contention that is often drowned out as Pakistani politicians lament inaction from its neighbour is the fact that Pakistan’s soil continues to harbour militants that repeatedly launch attacks in Afghanistan and enjoy free rein that has so far not even been restrained, much less persuaded to terminate their operations from Pakistan. This is especially remiss on Pakistan’s part considering that unlike Afghanistan, Pakistan does claim to have influence over the Taliban to an extent. This is borne out by Pakistan’s efforts to persuade the Afghan Taliban to enter into a dialogue with Kabul. Our government needs to realise that unless due effort is exerted to curb the cross-border attacks by the Afghan Taliban on its soil, it is in no position to call for Kabul’s cooperation. More crucially, there is a need for a mutual effort against terrorism that does not discriminate between so-called ‘good’ and ‘bad’ Taliban. This is only possible with cognizance of the fact that every such element has the potential to wreak havoc on either side of the border. True elimination of cross-border terrorism is only possible if both countries pursue a joint unmitigated effort against each other’s jihadi enemies.http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/editorial/28-Jan-2016/afghan-envoy-summoned
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