Taliban’s Kabul takeover security nightmare to Islamabad as terror groups ramp up attack in Pakistan

The recent surge in terror attacks in Pakistan has shown that the Taliban’s takeover in Afghanistan is a security nightmare for Islamabad, according to a media report.

The last two weeks have raised major red flags for Pakistan’s security apparatus, especially in Balochistan where the Pakistan army lost several of its soldiers in three different major terrorist attacks, reported The Diplomat.

Further, the US-based magazines said that first, on January 25, terrorists attacked Kech, Balochistan, which is located near the country’s western border with Iran, roughly 600 km south of provincial capital Quetta. Over 10 Pakistani military personnel were killed in that terrorist attack. Just over a week later, on February 2, another terrorist plot unfolded in Noshki and Panjgur districts of the same province. Although the Noshki attack was repulsed within hours, the standoff in Panjgur lasted for more than 60 hours and resulted in the death of seven military personnel, including an officer.

Muhammad Wali, an Islamabad-based security expert, believes that Afghanistan’s political situation is still in limbo as not a single country has accepted the Taliban regime so far.Emphasising that the Afghan economy is on the verge of collapse, and the country is still believed to be a haven for different terrorist outfits, Wali argued that all these developments should be a concern for Pakistan. The impending crisis may engulf Pakistan too, creating instability on the economic front, which is already struggling with inflation and low economic growth, added Wali.

The security expert also stressed that Pakistan needs to engage the Afghan Taliban to deal with the TTP and also emphasised that Islamabad should implement the National Action Plan (NAP) in letter and spirit.

Urging the government to finalize the NAP by paying heed to the 20-point plan, Wali said that the plan was established by the Government of Pakistan in January 2015 to crack down on terrorism. Seven years later, many of its points are yet to be fulfilled, and terrorism is on the rise yet again, Wali added.

The recent attacks which show a surge in terrorist activities in the country after the Taliban takeover in Kabul endorses a fear that Pakistan has been slowly sliding into chaos and instability for the last couple of years, said a recent report by Islamabad-based think tank the Pakistan Institute for Peace Studies.

https://theprint.in/world/talibans-kabul-takeover-security-nightmare-to-islamabad-as-terror-groups-ramp-up-attack-in-pak/830448/