Kabul seeks detention of Taliban, Haqqani network leaders

ISLAMABAD: The government of Afghan President Ashraf Ghani has leaked a confidential letter to the foreign media demanding Pakistan detain the Taliban leaders in Quetta and Peshawar as well as members of the Taliban-allied Haqqani network responsible for recent terror attacks.
In the letter, Ghani asks the Pakistani civilian leadership to deny insurgents sanctuary on their side of the border.The contents of the letter made public by AFP has caused considerable embarrassment to the government here and comes a day after Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif together with Chief of the Army Staff General Raheel Sharif visited the ISI headquarters where the PM criticised the designs of “foreign intelligence agencies” to destabilise Pakistan. Though Sharif did not name the countries involved, the understanding was that he was pointing towards India and Afghanistan.
“We have seen the media reports. Pakistan will fulfill all its commitments. I would refer you to the prime minister’s statement at the joint press stakeout in Kabul on May 12. He very clearly said that the enemy of Afghanistan will be considered the enemy of Pakistan. We are committed to enhancing cooperation with Afghanistan and significantly support the Afghan-owned and Afghan-led peace and reconciliation process,” the spokesman at the Foreign Office told The News when asked to comment on Ghani’s letter.
The letter to Pakistan’s leadership demands tough action from Pakistan against the Afghan Taliban militants seeking greater anti-terrorism cooperation and also asked Islamabad’s civilian and military leadership to condemn the Afghan Taliban’s annual spring offensive and reiterated Kabul’s longstanding demand of denying insurgents sanctuary on their side of the border.
While in Kabul earlier this month, Sharif had said in what was seen as a complete U-turn on Pakistan’s Afghan policy that “Continuation of such an offensive and attacks (by Afghan Taliban) will be construed as terrorist acts and we condemn such attacks in the strongest words. We strongly condemn increase in violence and Operation Azm offensive by Afghan Taliban. Continuation of such offensive and attacks will be construed as terrorist acts and we condemn such attacks in strongest terms,” Sharif had said.
He had added that all sanctuaries, when found, would be eliminated by direct action, and would be monitored by the existing mechanism.“Any effort by any militant or group to destabilise Afghanistan will be dealt with severely and such elements will be outlawed and hunted down. In case of terrorist activity, both Pakistan and Afghanistan retain the right of counter actions in conjunction,” the PM had remarked.
Also the office of the Afghan Chief Executive Dr Abdullah Abdullah after his meeting with Sharif had quoted the PM as saying, “The Taliban and other terrorist groups also understand what we have told them. They do not have any other option but to shun violence and join the peace process.”
It remains to be seen now how the Sharif government proceeds to control the damage which the Ghani’s letter of mistrust causes. For quite some time now, voices have been raised to appoint a Special Envoy for Afghanistan, a person who would have direct access to the civilian and military leadership.
If the Sharif government does not go into damage control mode, it would be difficult to retain the gains made in bilateral relations with Afghanistan. Ghani is too weak and under too much pressure in the face of the continuing terrorist attacks by the Afghan Taliban.There are high and sometimes unrealistic expectations in Kabul that only Pakistan can convince the Afghan Taliban to put aside their guns and come to the negotiating table.