Saman Hamid
Events keep on unfolding at lightning’s pace. What used to be wreath with suspicion and doubts is now a reality and the consequences are far reaching. Pak-Afghan relations are at the lowest ebb and in the recent past there have been developments that signal minimal improvement. It was only last week that Afghan officials were denying any involvement in spreading terrorism in Pakistan by distancing themselves from the claims of Ehsnaullah Ehsan, however just a few days ago Afghan forces opened fire on the census team in Chaman area. Since April 30th census efforts in Killi Luqman and Killi Jahangir in Chaman was facing hurdles finally culminating into a deadly attack claiming 10 civilians and injuring 46. This comes after the Afghan President; Ashraf Ghani has rejected the invitation to visit Pakistan. Afghanistan is slowly decending into chaos and as much as they like to put the blame on Pakistan and please their Indian counterparts in the process the fact of the matter is that there are more things out of control over there now than they ever were before and no one is willing to admit it.
Exploring Pakistan’s angle; things have never been easy between the two countries especially after the Ghani regime’s succession to power and inclination towards Indian generosities. One of the biggest achievements of Pakistan’s security forces to expose the ill will of some of our brothers across the Western border has been revealed after the detention of senior commander of the Pakistani Tlaiban and later Jamaat-ul-Ahar; Liaquat Ali A.K.A. Ehsanullah Ehsan. In a confession last month Ehsan admitted to obtain funding from NDA and RAW to fight Islamabad. Ehsan said “relations with NDS and RAW grew” after Pakistan’s military launched a major military campaign against the Taliban in their strongholds in North Waziristan in 2014, forcing the militants to flee across the border to Afghanistan. “They supported (TTP), extending financial assistance and they also gave targets, and for each attack (TTP) charged a price,” We have been asked to “do more” for so long that this took a while to sink in. First Kulbhsuhan Yadav admitted to Indian foul play in Balochistan and recently ties with Uzair Baloch make the case for Sindh.
It would have been easier had Afghans been in full control of their resources, especially human. One of the most peculiar scandals to have surfaced in recent times is the case of ghost soldiers. Some 30,000 names have been wiped from pentagon’s list. Reports are also surfacing about theft of fuel and other materials within the soldiers. The Afghan army was forced to remove Gen. Moin Faqir a top commander in Hilmand province for stealing fuel and food supplies. With such wide scale corruption within the forces it is pretty clear that the Afghan army as well as those deployed in the region have to clean up their act before pointing fingers. The fact that there is stealing and ghost personnel indicates a gross failure of intelligence and also provides basis for the recent spike in violence and general disarray the whole nation is descending into.
The biggest proof of this descent is one of the most recent unfortunate incidents killing 140 soldiers. Men dressed in army uniforms attacked the Balkh base in broad daylight. The area under attack was the prayer and dining area indicating that the penetration assailants managed was quite extensive, the ensuing battle lasted several hours again indicating the preparation level of the attackers. Although the Afghans were quick to blame Pakistan but it is clear that without help from insiders this was an unattainable target. This is not the first time unfortunately, in January this year bombing in Kandahar left 5 UAE diplomats dead including their ambassador; Juma al-Kaabi. On the same day Hilmand and the parliament was also targeted. This was amidst 300 or more soldiers arriving from the US. The situation is getting worse each day and Taliban and other element’s penetration in the security forces are culminating in the deteriorating law and order situation.
Afghanistan if wants to survive and develop has to take a long look at themselves. The trump regime will not back them up forever, their Indian counterparts too, serve their own interests and a mere regime change as well as the global economic situation will dwindle, their aid further. The Afghan soldiers (if exist for real) are ill-equipped and inexperienced in a country of warlords, Pakistan has to be given her due importance in resolving internal and external matters, especially when the sole life line of their supply runs through her. They also have to realize that CPEC is the game changer for the entire region and nothing quells dissent more than economic incentives, “working together” is the way forward. As far as Pakistan is concerned, our arm chair philosophers must step outside the comfort of their drwaign rooms and capitalize and protect interests. We have caught two spies/ terrorists admitting spreading chaos in the country attempting to undo what we have sacrificed for, we need to unite and strategize. If not for our forces there would have been chaos and a lot more blood. If we want to survive in these turbulent times we need to become a lot more aggressive and persistent. That does not involve picking up arms alone we need psychological, social barriers so that the very menace of terrorism seeping in the societal mindset recedes. We need to realize that no matter how many operations take place as long as there are accomplices and people within “agreeing” with the wrong doers and “participating” in terms of accommodation our problems will never end.
