Pakistan is left with no option but to fight the menace of terrorism and extremism till it is fully eliminated. The top leadership is making it clear to the banned terrorist groups that either, they should surrender to the writ of the state or face the consequences. The Caretaker Prime Minister and Army Chief have categorically announced on different occasions that there would be no more peace negotiations with the terrorists at all.
It is a challenging task but needs support inside and outside the country. The regional as well as international community should back up Pakistan as it is all, but the implications of the so-called war on terrorism. The international community should play its role in fighting this war as it is important for regional and international peace.
The Western world left Afghanistan in a hurry two years ago, leaving many unresolved issues including the menace of terrorism and unstable political government in Kabul. The International war on terrorism ended without implementing the Doha Peace Agreement 2020 in letters and spirits.
The regional countries are facing the fallout of the changing scenario in Afghanistan. Pakistan has suffered the most since the Afghan Taliban took over the government in 2021 with an unprecedented surge in terrorist attacks in Pakistan. Pakistan sees many attacks have direct or indirect links to Afghan soil, being used for planning and executing the terrorist attacks.
Reports say the terrorists have got latest weapons, left behind by the US-led NATO troops in Afghanistan. Pakistani security forces found modern weapons and gadgets in the operations against the terrorists.
The political and military leadership have categorically announced that Pakistan will fight terrorism till it is completely wiped out from the country. An opportunity was provided to tackle this issue politically, but it was wasted. It was counter-productive that emboldened the terrorists. There were some major terrorist attacks following the failure of peace negotiations.
Caretaker Prime Minister Anwaar ul Haq Kakar has out rightly rejected any chance of entering into peace talks with the terrorist groups. ”Writ of the state will be established at all costs and no dialogue will be held with the anti-state elements,” the PM told journalists during his first visit to Peshawar, the capital city of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa recently.
The message is loud and clear from the top leadership of the country to eliminate the menace of terrorism. It shows the resolve of the government, but it is a challenging task as to how to fight it. This is not a traditional warfare strategy or limited to a specific territory, but fighting it in many ways.
Multi-faceted Strategy Needed to Fight the Terrorist Groups
A multi-faceted strategy is needed to counter their propaganda through literature, media, and social media. As per the reports, some policy-level steps have been taken to address the extremist views and narratives. Intelligence-based operations have been initiated with positive results. The terrorists have been using civilians as their shields, so it is important to focus on human and technological intelligence gathering to avoid any civilian losses.
Chief of the Army Staff General Syed Asim Munir says, “Our operation against the terrorists would continue unabated, and the armed forces, intelligence, and law enforcement agencies shall not rest till the menace of terrorism rooted from the country,” according to the ISPR.
He said the forces of evil will continue to face the full might of the state and security forces backed by a resilient nation. The government needs to win the trust of the people if it wants to win against the terrorists. There is a need to overcome the trust deficit, particularly in the parts of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa where people have suffered a lot. People should be taken on board to eradicate terrorism to help revive political and economic activities in the country. Bombings, target killings and extortions have reportedly forced many people in the KP to move to Islamabad and other provinces.
People from the tribal districts or formerly FATA along the Afghan border have been living under constant threat of cross-border attacks. Pakistani militants have been living in the Afghan provinces near the border. Pakistan had raised the issue with the Taliban government, and both sides reached an understanding to relocate them to other parts of Afghanistan. But there was no progress on the issue, as the Taliban did not act on the pledges it made in Islamabad in February this year.
The Afghan Taliban has been urging Pakistan to initiate peace negotiations with the militant groups to have lasting peace. Pakistan started engaging the major banned militant organization Tehreek-e-Taliban
Pakistan with the mediation and facilitation of the Afghan Taliban. However, the peace talks could not yield any positive outcome after a series of direct meetings. There was an agreed ceasefire between Pakistan and the TTP in 2021-22, but there was no decline in attacks. The peace negotiations were initiated by the then government of former Prime Minister Imran Khan’s government without proper homework. There was no plan B, if the talks failed what would be the reaction of the state? The terrorists had always used peace negotiations to regroup and reorganize their groups.
The Afghan Taliban argues that the rise in violence inside Pakistan’s geographic borders is an internal issue, but it ignores the use of Afghan soil and what its responsibilities are to help control the cross-border attacks. Islamabad has repeatedly said to have provided evidence of the militants’ presence in Afghanistan and their involvement in the terrorist attacks in Pakistan.
Pakistan had played a key role in the peace process to put an end to the decades-long violence in the war-torn country. Pakistan had suffered politically and economically due to the spill-over effects of the war on terrorism, but there is no rest for Pakistan as it has been facing terrorism, even after the relative peace in Afghanistan. However, no country can fight it alone. Instead of denying the facts, Pakistan and Afghanistan should take up the issue at the political level. Not only the TTP, but Islamic State of Khorasan Province or Daesh Khorasan are a real threat to both the neighboring countries.
The Afghan Taliban should take practical steps to prevent such terrorist outfits from using its soil against other countries, otherwise, this menace of terrorism could have serious implications for Afghanistan as well.
