Will Selber, a former U.S. Army officer, has warned in an article that potential cooperation between anti-Taliban resistance groups and Pakistan could create serious problems for these fronts. He believes Islamabad might use the Taliban's opponents as temporary leverage and then withdraw its support after reaching an agreement with Kabul.
This analysis follows a report by The New York Times stating that Pakistani military and intelligence officials have met with leaders of armed anti-Taliban movements and proposed potential support. These meetings have occurred as relations between Pakistan and the Taliban government, two former allies, have soured dramatically over border security issues.
Selber, who previously served with the U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM), wrote in an analysis published Monday in the Long War Journal that anti-Taliban groups face a difficult choice. On one hand, they need foreign support to continue their struggle, but on the other, Pakistan is a country that supported the Taliban for decades and played a significant role in the group's return to power.
According to the former U.S. officer, while cooperation with Islamabad could provide military support for the Taliban's opponents, it also risks intensifying their internal divisions and damaging their political credibility among the Afghan people.
Critics, particularly among senior officials of previous Afghan governments, have criticized the resistance fronts' ties with Pakistan, calling them "dangerous." They are concerned that Pakistan will use these groups to serve its own interests.
Islamabad accuses the Taliban government of allowing armed groups like the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) to use Afghan soil against Pakistani security forces, an accusation the Taliban has consistently denied.
However, on Saturday, October 24, Pakistan's Ministry of Information denied the reports of supporting Taliban opponents. In response to remarks by Zalmay Khalilzad, the former U.S. representative for Afghanistan, the ministry called the claims "baseless."
Source: Long War Journal
🌐
