Afghans Feel border can be sealed to keep out Taliban

Muhammad Tahir

Dubai (July 11, 2008)-The recent powerful explosion in front of the Indian Embassy in Kabul - arguably the most powerful blast in the Afghan capital since the ouster of the Taliban regime in 2001 - is further clear evidence of the deteriorating security situation in Afghanistan.

Not surprisingly, the Afghan media as well as Afghan officials were quick to point fingers at Pakistan - India's old rival - as orchestrating the bloody attack.

The bombings killed about 50 people, including two high-level Indian diplomats based in Kabul.

"The enemy is the ISI of Pakistan," reported the state-run Kabul Times as it blamed Pakistan's Inter Services Intelligence.

Another newspaper, Daily Afghanistan, listed the bombing as the latest of many recent events - including the April 27 attack on a parade in Kabul where President Karzai was targeted, as the handiwork of Pakistan.

Karzai's spokesperson, Humayun Hamidzadeh, was less direct in assigning blame as he spoke to the press in Kabul on July 8. But he, too, suggested that the ISI was involved in this explosion (Tolo TV, July 8, 2008).

Suspicion

Given the long rivalry between Pakistan and India, it is perhaps no surprise that Afghan officials looked toward Pakistan, which is reportedly worried by increasing Indian influence in it's backyard.

But deep-seeded suspicion between Pakistan and Afghanistan also is not something new, as some Afghan officials - particularly those influential leaders, from northern belt of the country - have long accused Islamabad of playing a destructive role in the country for over a decade.

If the history of conflict in Afghanistan were deeply analysed, the basis of this mistrust and important figures involved in this blame game could be highlighted as follows:

- During the Jihad period against the Red Army (1979-1989), the heroic commander of Afghanistan's Tajiks - Ahmad Shah Masood - remained suspicious of Pakistan's intention due to it's blank support for his long-standing rival - the Pashtun Gulbuddin Hikmatyar.

Ultimately, Pakistan's support for the Taliban - who overran the regime of Masood in Kabul in 1996 - not only increased this suspicion, but also brought Masood and his loyalists close to India, causing further tension between him and Islamabad.

- Although Pakistan may have appeared supportive of Afghanistan's Pashtun population, which makes up around 40% of the country's total inhabitants, today not all of them are happy with Pakistan.

Each of the individual leaders may have his own reasons behind his anger, but the majority of them are critical of Pakistan's role in empowering the Taliban, which neutralised the political influence of those leaders in society.

- Therefore in the current Afghan administration, Pakistan has few friends - if any. And, at the same time, another influential faction in the government - the intellectual Kabulis - have their own reason to oppose Pakistan.

The Kabulis, who make up the backbone of today's government, are mostly members of the former communist regime and are unhappy simply because of Islamabad's support first for the Mujahideen and later for the Taliban, whom Kabulis think victimised them systematically.

The result is that after years of superiority in Afghan politics, today Pakistan faces an unfriendly neighbour, therefore whenever any negative developments occur in Afghanistan, the first thoughts of the majority of Afghan officials is that Pakistan is trying to keep Afghanistan in its own sphere of influence, no matter what the cost.

Sanctuaries

Despite the denial of Pakistani authorities of any wrongdoings in Afghanistan, regional observers say, Kabul does have some solid reasons to remain suspicious of the intentions of Pakistan in the country.

The most important concern of Afghan officials is the presence of Taliban's sanctuaries in the tribal-administered, lawless region of Pakistan, which has a 2,430 km shared border with Afghanistan.

Moreover, the Taliban have made this area their safe haven, where according to Afghan officials they train, equip and plan attacks against Afghan and international forces crossing the Afghan-Pakistan border regularly.

Pakistan says that it's also victim of terror and that the Taliban militants equally pose a serious threat to its own security. For instance, exactly 24 hours before the blast in Kabul, the Pakistani capital was rocked by a powerful explosion which cost the life of 20 servicemen.

But the majority of Afghan officials do not accept such assurances. They think Pakistan is capable of sealing its border to terrorists - as it did in the case of Kashmir, where today cross-border attacks has been almost stopped.

They also think Pakistan is capable of taking firmer action to root out the militants in its tribal regions.

Politically motivated

For all these reasons, rarely a day goes by in Afghanistan without a news-bulletin or newspaper reflecting anti-Pakistani sentiment. And, according to some regional observers, that sentiment is also regularly fanned by some Afghan officials for political gains.

For example, some Afghan political analysts, quoted by local newspapers, say that even while there are credible reports about Pakistan's role in the instability of Afghanistan, the recent ultimatum of President Karzai to send Afghan troops to Pakistan to hunt Taliban was nothing more than a political statement playing to local sentiment to increase his personal credibility. (Daily Peyman-July 8, 2008).

While Pakistan has to tighten its borders to prevent militants from crossing, these two countries need to be serious in dealing with insurgents in the region.

Today the insurgents may be supported by some figures in Pakistan, but tomorrow they may act independently, posing a serious threat to the entire region.

The World Drug Report-2008, released by UN's Office for Drug and Crime on June 26, shows that the Taliban generated around $ 100 million by imposing a 10 per cent tax on farmers in the southern belt of Afghanistan.

This is huge money, and having poverty in the region in mind, such revenues assure that the Taliban will face no problem in finding new recruits to fight against anyone whom they think harms their interest.

If today it's the Afghan administration and foreign troops, one cannot say that tomorrow they might not hit Pakistan as well.

Published on- Daily Gulf News- Dubai, United Arab Emirates