THE way the Afghan forces repeatedly carry out attacks on the international border is a clear testimony that it is not due to some misunderstanding but part of the well-thought-out strategy of the authorities in Kabul, that have adopted an anti-Pakistan posture in the face of extreme restraint being exercised by Islamabad. In a repeat of the pattern, Pakistan’s security forces thwarted an aggression attempt by Afghan Taliban forces at the Naushki-Ghazni sector of the Pakistan-Afghanistan border. According to security sources, Afghan forces opened fire on Pakistani posts. In response, Pakistan targeted Afghan checkpoints inflicting heavy losses on the Afghan forces.
It is an established fact that originally it was the Afghan side that raised the issue of free-for-all border movements urging Pakistan to take effective measures to curb such activities. Pakistan opted to initiate the border management project at huge costs despite its limited resources to secure the Western border against smuggling and illegal cross-border activities. Afghanistan should have welcomed the plan as it was a step towards formalizing border crossings as is the case between other sovereign nations. However, the Afghan side has chosen not only to oppose the project but whenever it gets an opportunity it targets barbed wires and carries out aggression against security check-posts. The latest trouble was also the offshoot of the unprovoked firing by Afghan forces when the Pakistan side was engaged in fence repair work. There are also scores of reports suggesting the fence is damaged deliberately by Afghan forces and then they try to pressurize Pakistan not to go for repairs as these help advance the Afghan agenda of patronizing smuggling and sending mercenaries to carry out acts of sabotage on this side of the border. Smuggling is considered a curse by all the countries but Afghan economy depends heavily on illegal activities, mostly carried out in the garb of transit trade. This is borne out by the fact that as a result of measures taken by Pakistan to curb smuggling there was 86 per cent decrease in Afghan transit trade on an annual basis in September and 85pc decrease in the first quarter of the current fiscal year. In this backdrop, the decision of the Pakistani authorities to continue with strong measures to protect the borders augurs well. Similarly, Pakistan has exercised utmost restraint but there is limit to provocation and in future any aggression must be responded with a befitting response.
