Policy Brief 23 hours ago
For centuries, Afghanistan has been a bridge and a battleground between South Asia, Central Asia, and the Middle East. Afghan soil emerged as a major base of cross-border terrorism in the last few decades owing to the absence of sustained state writ and uneven regional cooperation, which affected the next-door neighbours. After the exit of foreign forces from Kabul in August 2021 and the fall of control to the Afghan Taliban, Afghanistan again became a terrorist safe haven despite the Doha Accords 2020 that mentioned commitments by the Afghan Taliban not to allow their soil be used against foreign states. The withdrawal of foreign troops resulted in a significant decrease in intelligence coverage, whereas the interim Afghan government’s inability to rely on its limited bureaucracy and technical skills meant that it could not keep all the activities in the country under surveillance. The internal political exclusion has made the situation of fragility even worse. The reduction of diplomatic and intelligence presence has resulted in the decrease of early-warning mechanisms, thus giving terrorist networks the opportunity to regroup and operate with less restriction. This poses direct security risks to Pakistan in terms of cross-border terrorism and the availability of safe havens for terrorists in Afghanistan. The UN Analytical Support and Sanctions Monitoring Team reports that TTP leader Noor Wali Masoud receives around $43,000 per month from the Afghan Taliban, reflecting a significant level of financial backing for the terrorist group. The Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction (SIGAR) report, confirmed by the US Department of War, states that $7.1 billion worth of American-provided equipment left behind in Afghanistan is being used by TTP in its attacks against Pakistan. The regional countries and forums, including the Moscow Format, have expressed concern and urged the Afghan Taliban to ensure that their territory is not used for terrorism. However, the Afghan Taliban’s lack of continued cooperation and head-in-the-sand attitude has prevented meaningful progress, thus causing detrimental consequences for the broader region.
