The Afghan Taliban’s efforts to combat cross-border terrorism are cautiously applauded by Pakistan.

Pakistan is upbeat A top diplomat said on Saturday that the Taliban in Afghanistan will successfully battle transnational terrorism to imitate the type of collaboration that U.S. President Joe Biden recently alluded to between the de facto Afghan authorities and Washington.

In an exclusive interview with VOA, Asif Durrani, Pakistan’s special envoy on Afghanistan affairs, said that the Taliban administration has just started making some changes to satisfy worries about cross-border terrorism that his nation and other neighbors, including China, had. But he emphasized that it would be premature to predict the result.

Since the Taliban retook control in Kabul over two years ago, terrorist strikes in Pakistan have dramatically increased. The daily bloodshed has claimed the lives of hundreds of Pakistanis, many of them members of the security forces.

Islamabad asserts that the Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan, or TTP, which is conducting a violent insurgency against the Pakistani state, is behind the assaults, with fugitive leaders and militants stationed in Afghanistan.

“It’s a major problem. However, measures are being made to destroy the TTP. The process has been started, but we should also be aware that it will take some time,” Durrani stated in response to a recent Taliban declaration that TTP militants were being removed from Afghan regions bordering Pakistan.

“Since the Afghan government is taking such action, we must wait to see how it turns out. It is still in the early phases, therefore it would be premature to comment, according to the Pakistani representative. Durrani said, “But if this TTP relocation can really take place and result in calm along our borders, it would be a huge step and we would welcome that.

He said that Islamabad had begun negotiations with fugitive TTP commanders at the request of the Taliban in an effort to convince them to put an end to bloodshed, but the process had collapsed last year due to the militants’ “ridiculous” demands.

The only alternative left for Pakistan, according to Durrani, is to give up and comply with the law. The TTP, he said, has lost all territorial control as a result of Pakistani military operations, and their removal from border regions implies that the Afghan Taliban now saw them as a “liability” as well.

When the United States and its NATO partners abruptly withdrew all of its soldiers from Afghanistan in August 2021, after over two decades of engagement in the Afghan war, the Taliban seized control in Kabul.

The TTP is a branch and close ally of the Afghan Taliban, commonly known as the Taliban. The U.S. has classified it as a worldwide terrorist organization. Before regaining control of Afghanistan two years ago, the terrorist group supplied recruitment and safe haven for the Afghan Taliban in Pakistan while they carried out guerrilla assaults against American-led foreign soldiers and the previous government.
In contrast, Afghanistan is now fairly tranquil, although there are still isolated regions where TTP, ETIM, and other organizations remain a cause for worry. China and Pakistan both anticipate the Afghan government to take action, according to Durrani. Because the East Turkestan Islamic Movement (ETIM) launched terrorist strikes on Chinese land from Afghan safe havens, China has blacklisted the group.

At a U.N. Security Council meeting last month, China said that terrorism continues to be Afghanistan’s biggest concern and encouraged the Taliban to take “firm and strong measures” against terrorist organizations operating there.

The Chinese ambassador to the U.N. addressed the gathering and said that “terrorist forces, including ISIL-K, al-Qaida, and ETIM, are colluding with one another and endangering the security of the country, the region, and the world at large.” He referred to the Aghan branch of the Islamic State terrorist organization using an acronym.

“The process has begun, as President Biden also hinted at the collaboration between American authorities and the Afghan Taliban in implementing counterterrorism measures. Hopefully, we will start seeing some good outcomes soon,” Durrani told VOA.

Biden told reporters at the White House this week that the U.S. and the Taliban, two longtime enemies, were working together to drive out al-Qaida terrorists from the war-torn South Asian nation, almost two years after the American forces withdrew.

Recall what I said about Afghanistan, don’t you? Al-Qaida wouldn’t be there, I said. I guaranteed that it wouldn’t be. I assured the media that the Taliban would assist us. “What’s going on right now? What is happening? Read the news. Without going into any detail, he said, “I was correct.

Al-Qaida chief Ayman al-Zawahiri was assassinated by American drone missiles in the heart of Kabul last year, where Washington said he was staying as a guest of the Taliban. While U.S. officials have not officially recognized any such collaboration with the Taliban, the de facto Afghan government has apparently assisted American intelligence in the deaths of prominent Islamic State figures in the nation.
ban on poppy

Since reclaiming control of the nation, the Taliban have also drastically decreased the production of opium poppies, a development that has been lauded by Washington and other foreign partners.

“But those Afghan farmers are losing money since the [Taliban] ban on poppy cultivation and the replacement crops aren’t bringing in the same amount of money that poppy farming did before. They should be compensated, in my opinion, and the international world should support Afghanistan, Durrani added.

The Pakistani representative said that since the Taliban took power, bilateral commerce between his nation and Afghanistan has risen, and Islamabad now gains from Afghan transit routes to landlocked Central Asian nations.

“Our commerce with Central Asian nations was around $55 million before the American pullout, but it is now hovering around $200 million, almost tripling. Peace has clear benefits. Afghanistan will function as a transit point for South and Central Asia if it achieves peace.

Talks with the Taliban

Durrani underlined that the Taliban must be engaged in discussion and continuous international involvement if favorable trends are to be sustained and ongoing issues in Afghanistan are to be addressed.

“Remaining far from or avoiding the Taliban, who are now in charge in Kabul, would not be helpful. There is a realization, which is the reason the American president and others have applauded the Taliban for some of their actions, such as eliminating poppies,” Durrani added. “Hopefully, other open issues will also be resolved amicably,” says the author. Examples include inclusion, girls’ education, and women’s work.

Since regaining control of Afghanistan, the Taliban have enforced their stringent interpretation of Sharia, or Islamic law. They have ordered the majority of female government workers to remain at home, with the exception of those who work in the health sector and a few other sectors, and have shuttered girls’ schools beyond the sixth grade indefinitely.

The employment of Afghan women by the UN and other non-governmental organizations is likewise prohibited. The Taliban issued a nationwide order this week requiring women-owned beauty salons to shut down within a month, citing violations of Sharia law in the services provided.
The U.N. has consistently criticized Taliban restrictions on Afghan women’s participation in public life and education as unacceptable, claiming that they have made it “nearly impossible” for the new Kabul authorities to win over the international community. In order to govern Afghanistan in an inclusive manner, the Taliban are also being pressured to provide representation to all ethnic groups in the nation.

Taliban commanders justified their actions by claiming that they are consistent with Sharia and Afghan culture. Since their administration “represents all languages, generations, and regions” of Afghanistan, they have dismissed requests for lifting restrictions on women as meddling in domestic affairs.

Durrani said that since the Taliban seized control of Kabul in August 2021, more than 700,000 Afghans had immigrated to Pakistan. The fate of the remaining individuals is unclear, but more than 120,000 of them have left for the United States and other Western countries, he said.

The majority of the displaced people are Afghan families, whose members spent their two-decade presence in Afghanistan working for the U.S.-led multinational troops. They left the nation out of concern for Taliban retaliation.