April 03, 2013

In a meeting with Isaf Commander General Joseph F Dunford, COAS General Kayani conveyed his concern over cross-border attacks from Afghanistan. This is the least we could do, since these atrocities happening over the years have become dangerously frequent and have resulted in a massive loss of life.

The Nato and Isaf forces’ presence along the border is one factor that ought to have curbed such activity. As satellite technology and human intelligence gives them details of such movement, it is but unacceptable that Isaf which often calls itself an ally of Pakistan should be just watching this phenomenon passively. Islamabad’s longstanding demand has been to initiate action against the militant networks including the one led by Mullah Fazlullah, responsible for mass-casualty attacks across Pakistan. It was his outfit that carried out the assassination attempt on Malala Yousafzai for standing up for girls’ education. The role of the Afghan government too has been far from satisfactory; recently it refused to hand over some of the terror suspects wanted by Pakistani officials.

Under no circumstances, should Isaf let the militants blitz their way into Pakistani territory. As this complicates the job of the Pakistan’s military engaged in eradicating extremism from its tribal areas, at the end of the day this would add up to the collective failure of the fight against terror.

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