Cooperation or conflict?

Afghanistan has become the focus of Pakistan’s attention after a week that saw a surge of terrorism in the country, the worst being the gruesome Sehwan Sharif attack on Thursday. After announcing the closure of the Afghan border, the Pakistan Army struck militant hideouts close to the Pak-Afghan border on Friday night. The reported target was a training camp for the Jamaatul Ahrar, the banned terrorist outfit that had claimed responsibility for the Lahore and Mohmand Agency attacks this week. Four other terrorist hideouts were reportedly destroyed as well. Relations between Pakistan and Afghanistan were bound to get strained and after the Sehwan Sharif attack, senior Afghan diplomats were summoned to the GHQ and handed a list of 76 Pakistani terrorists based in Afghanistan with a concrete demand for action. COAS General Qamar Javed Bajwa called the US commander in Afghanistan, General John Nicholson and expressed concerns over inaction against these terrorist groups. These recent developments incidents have raised legitimate questions over why Pakistan and Afghanistan have failed to develop a joint anti-terrorism strategy.

While there is no doubt that key TTP leaders are operating from Afghan soil, Pakistan too has found itself facing similar claims when there is an attack in Afghanistan. As a possible start to a joint anti-terror effort, the list of 76 Pakistani terrorists given to the Afghan government could be pursued and followed up on by the Afghans. Such concrete information is the way to move forward, and goes some way in removing the impression that Pakistan is using Afghanistan as a distraction – or vice versa. If Afghanistan returns with a counter-list, that too should be welcomed and taken seriously. The growing wave of terror in both countries requires a joint approach. We have repeatedly said that the only beneficiary of increasing tensions between Afghanistan and Pakistan are terrorist groups. President Ashraf Ghani has identified IS as a common enemy, something that Pakistan agrees with as well. Why can’t both countries work together then to tackle the threat posed by IS? Yes, there may be setbacks. The porous nature of the Pak-Afghan border would be one of the key reasons for that. But even if border movement was restricted, there would be little to guarantee that home-grown terrorists would not strike. It is important, at such moments, to ensure that we – on both sides – do not resort to blame-games. The recent attacks confirm that the backbone of terrorist networks both within Pakistan and outside it has not been entirely broken. This will require a joint, instead of a confrontational, approach.