The Afghan front

Even before the Peshawar attack – which seems to have changed the approach to fighting militancy – there was greater cooperation between Pakistan and Afghanistan than ever before. Pakistan disrupted the operations of the Haqqani Network in North Waziristan and, in return, Afghanistan began working with the US to target TTP chief Mullah Fazlullah. So far there have been two attempts to kill him through drone strikes but neither caught their man. Now Afghanistan has gone one step further and launched an army operation in Kunar, the province where Fazlullah is believed to be hiding. On the first day of the operation an estimated 21 militants were killed, although that number did not include Fazlullah. Should the operation in Kunar continue it would represent a new chapter in Pakistan-Afghanistan relations and show that cooperation is a genuine possibility. In the immediate aftermath of the Peshawar attack, army chief Raheel Sharif paid a visit to Afghan President Ashraf Ghani to request action be taken against Fazlullah. It was only recently that the Afghan intelligence was caught aiding the TTP. Now Ghani seems to have realised that was unwise and may have changed course. In return we will, of course, be expected to continue targeting the Haqqani Network and, in the words of Nawaz Sharif, stop distinguishing between ‘good’ and ‘bad’ Taliban.

There is extra significance in the fact that the operation was carried out by the much-maligned Afghan National Army. With the US starting to withdraw its troops in a matter of days, the onus will fall on the Afghan army to take on the Taliban, a task at which it has proven quite inept. The army is plagued by incompetence, corruption and desertions. Its weapons end up on the black market and in the hands of militants. There will still be a sizeable international troop presence in Afghanistan but its terms of engagement will have changed. In fact, the US is also reportedly contemplating to no longer target Afghan Taliban members, including chief Mullah Omar if they do not directly go after the US. It will now be up to the Afghan army to win this seemingly unwinnable war. The operation in Kunar is not only of direct benefit to us, especially if it leads to the capture or killing of Fazlullah, it will also be a good test case for the ability of the Afghan army.