The border standoff is ominous for Pakistan’s relations with Afghan Taliban regime
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The recent border incidents are indicative of souring of relations between Pakistan and Afghanistan’s Taliban administration. The Taliban forces have removed border fences at several places saying that Pakistan has no authority to build barriers along the Durand Line.
A video posted on social media showed a truck bulldozing the fences along the Pakistani border in the eastern Afghan province of Nangarhar. Similar incidents have been reported in other areas. There have also been reports of exchange of mortar fires.
Pakistan has been erecting fences along the 2400 km long border in order to formalize its border with Afghanistan and stop illegal crossings. Pakistani authorities said more than 92 percent of the border has already been fenced. Historically, the border between the two countries has remained fluid with free cross movements of tribes before Pakistan decided to erect fences.
The Durand Line drawn by British colonialist rule in 1893 has been the main source of tension between the two countries for the past seven decades. Afghanistan does not recognize the Durand Line on the grounds that it was created by the British “to divide ethnic Pashtuns.”
Islamabad, however, insists the Durand Line is a permanent border between neighbors. Tribesmen on both sides of the divide consider it to be a “soft border.”
The Taliban seek to have an open border for Pashtun tribesmen inhabiting the region. The incident happened as the Taliban has just completed 100 days in power.
Previous Afghan governments had also objected to the border fencing, yet there has not been any incident of use of force to stop it before. Pakistani authorities have played down the incident saying it was a localized action but a military spokesman said the work on fencing would continue despite provocation. The Afghan Taliban administration does not seem to be backing down on the fencing issue.
The Afghan Taliban administration does not seem to be backing down on the fencing issue.
Zahid Hussain
An Afghan defense ministry spokesman said Taliban forces would not allow Pakistani military to construct what he called an “illegal” border fence. Pakistani authorities are hopeful that the row will be resolved through negotiations. But also indicated that it would not allow the Taliban to disrupt the work. Any more action by the Taliban to prevent border fencing could intensify regional tensions.
Curiously, the border incident happened the day delegates from more than 50 countries gathered in Islamabad for a summit of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation to discuss the unfolding humanitarian disaster in Afghanistan. Pakistan has been actively campaigning for international humanitarian support for Afghanistan. Islamabad has also been calling for lifting of sanctions against the Taliban administration. The Taliban’s action may affect Pakistan’s efforts to mobilize international support for the conservative regime.
It’s not just the border standoff but also the militant sanctuaries in Afghanistan that have caused strains in the relations between Islamabad and the Taliban regime. The situation has become more tense after the Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) called off the cease-fire and stepped-up cross border attacks on Pakistani security forces in the former tribal areas.
It was on the insistence of the Afghan Taliban regime that Pakistan agreed to start peace negotiations with the outlawed militant network which has been responsible for killing thousands of Pakistanis. But the talks collapsed because of the TTP’s refusal to lay down arms. The group’s entire leadership is based in Afghanistan, apparently with the tacit support of the Afghan Taliban.
Many of the TTP leaders and fighters who were freed from jails after the Taliban takeover of Afghanistan in August last year have now been actively involved in planning terrorist attacks in Pakistan. Dozens of Pakistani soldiers have been killed in cross border terrorist attacks over the last few months.
Apparently, TTP fighters were also involved in breaking of the border fences along with the Afghan Taliban. The nexus between the Afghan Taliban and the TTP is cause of great concern to the Pakistani security establishment. There is no indication that the Afghan Taliban regime will act against the TTP.
Meanwhile, Pakistani security agencies have launched covert operations to take out the TTP leaders based in Afghanistan. Last week, a senior TTP leader and the group’s former spokesman leader Khalid Balti was killed in the eastern Afghan province of Nangarhar. Although no one has claimed responsibility of his death, the news was broken by Pakistani security agencies giving credence to suspicions about a covert operation.
Earlier, two senior TTP leaders were killed in a predator strike on a militant sanctuary in Kunar province. The region has been used as a base to launch cross border terrorist attacks. There has not been any public response from the Afghan Taliban regime on the two incidents. But such cross-border actions could further strain Pakistan’s relations with the Taliban regime.
- Zahid Hussain is an award-winning journalist and author. He is a former scholar at Woodrow Wilson Centre and a visiting fellow at Wolfson College, University of Cambridge, and at the Stimson Center in DC. He is author of Frontline Pakistan: The struggle with Militant Islam and The Scorpion’s tail: The relentless rise of Islamic militants in Pakistan. Frontline Pakistan was the book of the year (2007) by the WSJ. His latest book ‘No-Win War’ was published this year.
Twitter: @hidhussain
