The caretaker PM of Pakistan Kakar says that the Taliban is a terror state. The statement comes in light of Islamabad’s new move for the mass expulsion of Afghan refugees from its soil. The claim of the caretaker PM of Pakistan is that the Taliban and its induced channels are the responsible ones for spreading terror in Pakistan.
Addressing a press conference at the PM’s House before his departure to Tashkent, the caretaker PM said there was a 60% increase in terrorism and a 500 per cent spike in suicide bombings since the Taliban came into power in August 2021. This is the first time, that Pakistan has made a claim officially entirely against the current regime of Afghanistan.
He further added that in the last years, there was a record live loss of around 2,800 innocent civilians as reported by Dawn. For these lives lost, Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) which is operating from Afghanistan, is the responsible factor. During this time, 15 Afghan citizens were also involved in suicide attacks. PM Kakar informed the Taliban regime of Kabul several times
The relationship so far with the Taliban regime
After the withdrawal of the US from Kabul and the coming back of the Taliban regime, Pakistan has hoped for long-term peace in the region. Islamabad has signalled repeatedly to ensure support for the new regime since 2021. However, the recent crisis has erupted due to the successive incidents of spreading terror among innocent civilians in Pakistan.
PM Kakar also mentioned the report of the UN in July this year that there was a clear mention of TTP centres in Afghanistan and increased activities against Pakistan. He further stated with disappointment that despite several commitments by the Afghan government, no actions were taken against the anti-Pakistani groups.
From friendship to estrangement
Source: Crisis Group
The Taliban took over Afghanistan in August 2021, immediately after the withdrawal of the US forces. Notably, the then PM of Pakistan Imran Khan marked this moment by saying ‘breaking the chains of slavery’. Several high officials visited since then to Kabul to show their unconditional support for the Taliban regime. As one of the earliest countries, Pakistan recognized that the Taliban regime had the legitimate right to rule over Kabul. In the last two years, the ideologically driven regime Taliban made successive atrocities towards Afghan citizens.
The gunmen of the Taliban often used terror as a legitimate way to convince the common mass of the country about some rules that they have set by the ‘Shariyat law’. This is one of the reasons that illegal immigrants has significantly increased. PM Kakar’s current move to prevent the undocumented migrants and expel them from Pakistani soil is due to the incessant terrorism activities for which Islamabad is blamed by its neighbouring state.
The deportation drive
PM Kakar justified Islamabad’s new decision of mass expulsion as a need of the hour. Contrary, Afghanistan’s leaders criticised the deportation drive as “unnecessary, irresponsible, misleading and threatening”. In the context of this new deportation of Islamabad, PM Kakar mentioned that nearly 252,000 illegal immigrants have returned to their country indicating the massive success of the policy. The interim PM only concluded his speech by answering that he is hopeful that both countries will have a good relationship in future.
Source: Dawn
Afghanistan is a natural ally of Pakistan. Geographically, culturally, and in many more aspects they have shared a commonality. Hence, the relationship will be improved to benefit both the countries, in particular, and the region, in general. Replying to a question about the leftover ammunition of the US forces, PM clarified that there was no clue about those possessions of the Afghan military, it just disappeared.
