Death script

The sudden death of Mullah Omar must have surprised many. Now what is worrying for us is the reported links of some groups within the broader Taliban movement with Daesh. This nexus has grave consequence for us. Moreover, we should understand that the timing of disclosing Omar’s death is well planned and according to someone’s script. It has already led to the postponement of talks between the Afghan government and the Afghan Taliban.
Now both Pakistan and Afghanistan will have to do some damage control to maintain good relations between the two countries. It will be difficult to motivate the Taliban, who are working against President Ashraf Ghani and continue to target the Afghan army, towards peace talks. They are going to be more dangerous in the coming days when they start operating with Daesh. The army should also waste no time and try to conclude Operation Zarb-e-Azb as quickly as possible so as to avoid any backlash of the combined forces of Taliban and Daesh from Afghanistan for which we seem unprepared. The need is to clean our own house first and then prepare to combat external threats.
Lt-Col (r) Mukhtar Ahmed Butt
Karachi