Finally, after weeks of terrorist attacks in different parts of the country, the Pakistani government has “strongly condemned” the use of Afghan soil by terrorists as five more servicemen lost their lives in Kurram Agency to militant fire from across the border. But even in its condemnation, Islamabad only went as far as saying that it “expects that (the) interim Afghan government will not allow conduct of such activities against Pakistan in future”, instead of firmly putting its foot down, demanding immediate action against TTP, and warning of serious consequences if matters are not handled properly.
It has been noticed lately that while it is very right to lobby for resumption of aid to Afghanistan, considering the humanitarian catastrophe unfolding there, the Pakistani government has been a little too soft in its interactions with the Taliban. Not only have they done nothing to honour their promise of keeping TTP in check, but the incident involving Taliban fighters tearing down part of the border fence on the Pakistani side, then attacking Pakistani soldiers who were repairing it, and then threatening more such attacks against the fence, was not really handled like it should have been. Now that we are well and truly in the grip of a new wave of terrorism, it’s a little concerning that the government’s approach doesn’t seem to involve anything more than waiting for the next attack and issue the usual condemnation after it. Since we’ve been here before, and know the cost of terrorism, a stiffer response is required from the government. Kabul must be told in very clear terms that if it does not sort out TTP then it will not only lose its strongest advocate in the international community, but we will also have problems with what we are calling the interim Afghan government.
The people have sent enough relatives to early graves because the government took years to bring terrorists to heel. Nobody is willing, or should be made to, pay that price again.
