There is growing concern among Pakistani officials about security in neighboring Afghanistan as the Taliban try to form a government and stabilize the country after the departure of the US and other foreign forces.
Islamabad is especially concerned about militant fighters from a separate group of Pakistani Taliban who cross from Afghanistan and launch lethal attacks on their territory. Thousands of Pakistanis have been killed by jihadist violence in the past two decades.
Underlining the security threat in Afghanistan in recent days, a suicide bombing claimed by an Afghan Islamic State outbreak outside Kabul airport has killed more than 100 people, including 13 American troops.
A rocket attack followed at the airport, and on Sunday militant fire across the border in Afghanistan killed two Pakistani soldiers.
“The next two or three months are critical,” said a senior Pakistani official, who added that Islamabad feared an increase in militant attacks on the Afghanistan-Pakistan border as the Taliban tried to fill the void left by the collapse of Afghan forces Western-backed administration.
“We (the international community) must help the Taliban reorganize their army so that they control their territory,” the source added, referring to the threat of resurgent rival militant groups, including the Islamic State.
U.S. officials have repeatedly accused Pakistan of supporting the Afghan Taliban, who fought in a civil war in the mid-1990s before taking power in 1996.
Islamabad, one of the few capitals to recognize the Taliban government that was overthrown in 2001, denies the accusation.
The Pakistani government has said its influence on the movement has waned, especially since the Taliban grew in confidence once Washington announced the date of the complete withdrawal of U.S. and other foreign troops.
The official, who has direct knowledge of the country’s security decisions, said Pakistan planned to send security and intelligence officers, possibly even the head of the powerful inter-service intelligence agency (ISI). , in Kabul to help the Taliban reorganize the Afghan army.
An Afghan Taliban spokesman did not immediately respond to Reuters’ requests for comment on security relations with Pakistan.
Pakistan looks forward to Taliban cooperation
While recognition of a new Taliban government was not immediately on the table, the official said, the world should not leave Afghanistan.
“Whether we recognize the Taliban government or not, stability in Afghanistan is very important.”
The official warned that Islamic State Khorasan (ISIS-K), an unaffiliated affiliate of the Islamic State in Syria and Iraq, was actively seeking to launch attacks and recruit new fighters.
Left unhindered, it would almost certainly grow from a relatively small number today.
The United States recently launched two drone strikes targeting ISIS-K militants, including one in Kabul and one near the eastern border with Pakistan.
The strikes followed President Joe Biden’s promise that the United States would hunt down militants behind the recent suicide attack.
The Taliban criticized the strikes as a “clear attack on Afghan territory.”
Pakistan, whose armed forces also have drones and conventional aircraft, will avoid intervening directly in Afghanistan if possible, the official said.
The Afghan Taliban have assured their neighbor that they will not allow their territory to be used by anyone planning attacks on Pakistan or any other country.
But Islamabad hoped the Afghan Taliban would release militants planning attacks on Pakistan, the official added, or at least force them to leave their mutual border, where Pakistani troops have been on high alert in recent weeks.