SECURITY forces must be commended for their vigilance and professionalism in frustrating yet another infiltration bid from across the Western border in North Waziristan district of Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa.
According to the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR), the security forces picked up movement of a group of militants, who were trying to infiltrate through the Pak-Afghanistan border in the general area of Hassan Khel, North Waziristan district, on the night between April 5-6.
After an intense exchange of fire, eight Khwarij were sent to hell, while four were injured,” it added.
The latest incident speaks volumes about the border situation, rationality of the ongoing crackdown against illegal immigrants and continued non-cooperation of the Taliban Government to check the growing menace of terrorism in Pakistan.
Islamabad has consistently been asking the interim Afghan Government to ensure effective border management on their side of the border.
The authorities in Kabul have repeatedly been provided with undeniable evidence of use of Afghan soil for planning and execution of terrorist activities in Pakistan, especially Balochistan and KP but all appeals for action have so far fallen on deaf ears.
This is despite the fact that publicly the Afghan Government maintains it will not allow anyone to use its soil to sponsor terrorist activities against any other country.
The ISPR has expressed the hope that the Afghan Government will fulfil its obligations and deny the use of Afghan soil by radical insurgents (Khwarij) for perpetuating acts of terrorism against Pakistan but there are no indications of any cooperative gesture from the other side.
As for Pakistan, it has demonstrated its sincerity and commitment to the cause of regional peace and security as it not only carried out comprehensive operations against all terrorist outfits but also invested hugely from its scarce resources to ensure better management of the border in the backdrop of unending complaints from Kabul about illegal movements and demands from Pakistan to take effective action.
It is a matter of serious concern that instead of taking steps to complement Pakistan’s border control arrangements, Afghanistan has chosen to harbour terrorist outfits and use them as a pressure tactic against Pakistan.
The ongoing surge in terrorist activities in Pakistan was witnessed with the launch of operation by Islamabad to repatriate all illegal immigrants including Afghan refugees.
The policy is not aimed at penalizing Afghans or Afghanistan and is, instead, motivated by the desire of Pakistan to address growing security concerns of its people vis-à-vis Afghan refugees, many of whom are found to be involved in terrorist and criminal activities.
The latest incident of infiltration by Afghanistan-based terrorists comes at a time when Pakistan is implementing the second phase of repatriation – deportation of Afghan Citizen Card holders.
Pakistan has hosted millions of Afghans for decades and unfortunately instead of making comprehensive plans to rehabilitate them in their own homeland, the Afghan Government is adopting dilly-dallying tactics on the issue of repatriation.
This was also evident from the statement made by Mufti Abdul Mutalib Haqqani, spokesman for the Afghan Ministry of Refugees and Repatriation, who claimed that bringing the refugees back is official Afghan policy, but added it should be under a joint mechanism with Pakistan so that refugees are returned gradually and with “honour”.
Pakistan has long been urging the international community as well as the Afghan Government to make arrangements for re-settlement of all refugees inside Afghanistan but these proposals were ignored and Pakistan was left alone to tackle the burden and consequences of hosting such a large number of illegal immigrants.
Why is the Taliban regime reluctant to take their own citizens back when they claim to have total control and effective governance in Afghanistan?
Non-cooperation of Afghanistan on the issues of repatriation and action against Afghanistan-based TTP elements complicates the situation for Pakistan but the country surely has the will and means to take the two processes to logical conclusion.
The swift and decisive response of the security forces to the attempted infiltration in North Waziristan district is a clear message that Pakistan is determined to eliminate terrorist with or without cooperation of Afghanistan.
There are many other options to realize this objective.
