Taliban – Artifex.News

Taliban govt. defends ban on protest, citing Islamic law

admin — Wed, 02 Sep 2026 17:37:00 +0000

Taliban government spokesperson Zabihullah Mujahid said that the “law fully complies with Islamic law”, adding that “protests don’t exist in Islamic law”. File
| Photo Credit: Reuters

The Taliban government defended on Wednesday (September 2, 2026) its ban on protests that has drawn condemnation from rights groups, saying the order complies with Islamic law.

Demonstrations in Afghanistan have been rare since the Taliban returned to power just over five years ago, but the government last month introduced a rule holding that “all types of protests are banned”.

International organisations have decried the law as “ruthless” and a move to suppress any dissent in the country.

Taliban government spokesperson Zabihullah Mujahid, during a news conference, said that the “law fully complies with Islamic law”, adding that “protests don’t exist in Islamic law”.

“Protests belong to societies where there are different laws established, for example a democracy or a republic,” Mr. Mujahid said.

Under the Islamic system, he said, people can approach the government with concerns rather than hold demonstrations.

Mr. Mujahid argued the ban “will also protect people from wasting time” and prevent the destruction of private property.

Human Rights Watch late last month slammed the ban as “another step in the Taliban’s ruthless effort to suppress all dissent”.

Amnesty International described the Taliban’s broader series of changes to law enforcement as “another sweeping assault on human rights in Afghanistan”, calling the protest ban “among its most egregious provisions”.

While demonstrations are rare, at least two people were killed in June when security forces reportedly opened fire on a women’s rights protest in the western city of Herat, a group of UN experts said.

Published – September 02, 2026 11:07 pm IST

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India reaffirms ‘longstanding ties’ with Afghanistan

admin — Fri, 14 Aug 2026 17:35:00 +0000

Image used for representation purposes only.
| Photo Credit: Getty Images/iStockphoto

The Indian government reaffirmed its “longstanding ties” with Afghanistan and the Afghan people just days before the fifth anniversary of the Taliban’s takeover of Kabul.

Speaking to the media at the bi-weekly briefing here on Friday (August 14, 2026), Official Spokesperson of the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) Randhir Jaiswal said: “In the last few months and over a year now, we have had several engagements and several ministerial visits from Afghanistan to India and these have led to strengthening of partnerships in several areas including in development cooperation, trade, connectivity”.

“We have longstanding ties with Afghanistan and the Afghan people, and we look forward to strengthening these ties that we have with them,“ Mr. Jaiswal said in response to a question regarding the Taliban’s reported plans to hold an event at the Afghan Embassy here to mark their coming to power in August 2021.

Noor Ahmed Noor, the Charge d’Affaires of the Afghan Embassy in New Delhi, is scheduled to hold a celebration here on August 17. Though Afghan sources claimed an Indian official would be present at the event, the MEA did not confirm the matter. Officials indicated that a positive posture will be maintained towards the Taliban for the time being as India continues to deal with a hostile Pakistan.

Among the officials and representatives of the Taliban who visited India in the last year were Amir Khan Muttaqi, the Acting Foreign Minister; Nooruddin Azizi, Acting Minister of Industry and Commerce; Noor Jalal Jalali, Minister of Public Health; and Ataullah Omari, Acting Minister of Agriculture, Irrigation and Livestock, who visited in July 2026.

Published – August 14, 2026 11:03 pm IST

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Belgium issues visas to Taliban delegation for EU meeting

admin — Mon, 22 Jun 2026 20:19:00 +0000

Belgium said on Monday it had issued five visas to a Taliban delegation to attend an EU meeting on migration in Brussels, for what would be the first time the EU ‌has hosted the group since the Islamists returned to power five years ago.

“These are visas with limited territorial validity and limited ⁠duration: only for Belgium … and only for a single day,” a Belgian Foreign Ministry spokesperson said in a statement, adding that the exact date of the visit would ‌not be communicated for security reasons.

The meeting is expected to focus on ways to deport some Afghan migrants, despite warnings from ‌human rights groups that such engagement could put Afghans at risk and ‌undermine ⁠core EU values.

According to a letter seen by Reuters and ⁠addressed to Abdul Qaher Balkhi, a Taliban foreign ministry spokesman, it will focus on “the return and readmission of Afghan nationals without a right to stay in the European Union”.

The EU’s executive, the European Commission, has said the meeting ‌is technical and does not constitute recognition of Taliban rule.

Since returning to power, the Taliban have steadily curtailed rights, restricting women’s freedom of movement, banning girls from education beyond primary school, and enforcing morality laws that limit ‌free expression and access to employment.

Rights organisations ask to abandon plan

Rights organizations have asked the European Union to abandon its plans to talk with the Taliban.

“Any engagement with the Taliban needs ⁠to prioritize protecting human rights and accountability — not deporting people to danger there,” said Fereshta Abbasi, Afghanistan researcher at Human Rights Watch.

“The desperate scenes of people – including ‌EU staff – fleeing Afghanistan are a recent memory. It is unconscionable that the EU would now try and deport people to Afghanistan, which has only become more dangerous in the meantime,” said Eve Geddie, director of Amnesty International’s European Institutions Office.

The EU has not identified which Taliban representatives were invited to the meeting. Several senior Taliban leaders are under EU sanctions.

Humanitarian crisis

Hundreds of thousands ‌of Afghans have sought asylum in Europe since 2021. EU law allows for deportations of people convicted of serious crimes or deemed security threats in certain cases, but returns to Afghanistan have been limited due to the lack ⁠of diplomatic relations.

Although Afghans are among the nationalities with the highest asylum recognition ⁠rates in the EU, overall acceptance has tightened as migration policies become more restrictive.

Afghanistan is currently mired in a deep humanitarian crisis. ‌According to the U.N. World Food Programme, more than 17 million Afghans – or one-third of the population – are “food insecure”, while the country is absorbing tens of thousands of returnees from Iran and Pakistan.

Published – June 23, 2026 03:44 am IST

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U.N. gravely concerned by an Afghan Taliban law that has provisions on child marriage

admin — Fri, 22 May 2026 02:52:00 +0000

United Nations expressed “grave concern” about a new law issued by Afghanistan’s Taliban government on separation in marriage which includes provisions on child marriage. File
| Photo Credit: Reuters

The United Nations expressed “grave concern” on Thursday (May 21, 2026) about a new law issued by Afghanistan’s Taliban government on separation in marriage which includes provisions on child marriage, saying the code further entrenches discrimination against women and girls.

The government rejected the accusations, saying the decree follows Islamic law and insisting the country has already banned the forced marriage of girls.

Afghanistan’s Justice Ministry published Decree No. 18 “on judicial separation of spouses” last week, which sets out rules for separation of a married couple.

Among its most controversial provisions, it says that the silence of a girl reaching puberty can be interpreted as consent to marriage. It also includes a section on the separation of girls who reach puberty and are married, which “implies that child marriage is permitted,” the United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA) said in a statement.

“This undermines the principle of free and full consent and failing to safeguard the best interests of the child,” it said.

The decree stipulates that a marriage can be ruled invalid “if a father or grandfather has given a minor girl or boy without any dowry, not enough dowry or obscene embezzlement.” It also says that a girl given away in marriage by her father or grandfather to a man who “has not treated her with kindness or is well-known for his bad choices…has the right to approach the court to cancel the marriage contract upon reaching puberty.”

However, if a girl asks her husband for a divorce and he denies it, “then in this case, there are no witnesses with the girl, the husband’s word is valid,” the new law says. She does not need witnesses if she makes the request before a judge.

Women and girls already face widespread discrimination in Afghanistan, with laws dictating how they must dress and behave. They are banned from secondary school and universities and from most jobs, as well as from nearly all leisure activities, including gyms, beauty salons and even from public parks.

“Decree No. 18 is part of a broader and deeply concerning trajectory in which the rights of Afghan women and girls are being eroded,” said Georgette Gagnon, the U.N.’s Deputy Special Representative of the Secretary-General and officer in charge of UNAMA.

While the law allows for women to separate from their husbands, it makes it much harder for them to do so than it does for men.

The decree “operates in a deeply unequal framework: while men retain the unilateral right to divorce, women must pursue complex and restrictive judicial avenues to separate from a spouse,” UNAMA said. “This situation reinforces structural discrimination and limits women’s autonomy in matters fundamental to their dignity, safety, and well-being.” After seizing power in Afghanistan following the chaotic withdrawal of U.S.-backed forces in 2021, the Taliban announced certain limited rights for women, issuing a decree that included the right for women to an inheritance and to refuse marriage. However, “successive decrees have undermined these protections,” UNAMA said.

The myriad restrictions imposed by the government “have deprived millions of Afghan women and girls of their right to education, weakened economic participation, and deepened poverty, with long-term consequences for Afghanistan’s development,” it added.

The objections from “those who contradict the religion of Islam are not new and we should not pay attention to them,” Zabihullah Mujahid, a spokesman for the Afghan government, told the RTA state broadcaster in an interview.

Mujahid noted that Afghanistan’s supreme leader Hibatullah Akhundzada has already issued a previous decree that bans the forced marriage of girls. Afghan courts and the country’s ministry of vice and virtue have investigated thousands of such cases in the past year alone, he said, “which shows the Islamic Emirate’s concern for women’s rights.”

Published – May 22, 2026 08:22 am IST

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Afghanistan says it thwarted Pakistani airstrike on Bagram Air Base

admin — Sun, 01 Mar 2026 17:32:00 +0000

Afghanistan thwarted attempted airstrikes on Bagram Air Base, the former U.S. military base north of Kabul, authorities said Sunday (March 1, 2026), while cross-border fighting between Pakistan and Afghanistan stretched into a fourth day.

The fighting has been the most severe between the neighbors for years, with Pakistan declaring that it’s in “open war” with Afghanistan. The conflict has alarmed the international community, particularly as the area is one where other militant organisations, including al-Qaida and the Islamic State group, still have a presence and have been trying to resurface.

Afghanistan-Pakistan war: Follow LIVE updates on March 1, 2026

Pakistan accuses Afghanistan’s Taliban government of harbouring militant groups that stage attacks against it and also of allying with its archrival India.

Border clashes in October killed dozens of soldiers, civilians and suspected militants until a Qatari-mediated ceasefire ended the intense fighting. But several rounds of peace talks in Turkiye in November failed to produce a lasting agreement, and the two sides have occasionally traded fire since then.

On Sunday (March 1, 2026), the police headquarters of Parwan province, where Bagram is located, said in a statement that several Pakistani military jets had entered Afghan airspace “and attempted to bomb Bagram Air Base” at around 5 a.m. The statement said Afghan forces responded with “anti-aircraft and missile defence systems” and had managed to thwart the attack.

There was no immediate response from Pakistan’s military or government regarding Kabul’s claim of attempted airstrikes on Bagram or the ongoing fighting.

Bagram was the United States’ largest military base in Afghanistan. It was taken over by the Taliban as they swept across the country and took control in the wake of the chaotic U.S. withdrawal from the country in 2021. Last year, U.S. President Donald Trump suggested he wanted to reestablish a U.S. presence at the base.

The current fighting began when Afghanistan launched a broad cross-border attack on Thursday (February 26, 2026) night, saying it was in retaliation for Pakistani airstrikes the previous Sunday (February 22, 2026).

Pakistan had said its airstrike had targeted the outlawed Pakistani Taliban, also known as Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan, or TTP. Afghanistan had said only civilians were killed.

The TTP militant group, which is separate but closely allied with Afghanistan’s ruling Taliban, operates inside Pakistan, where it has been blamed for hundreds of deaths in bombings and other attacks over the years. Pakistan accuses Afghanistan’s Taliban government of providing a safe haven within Afghanistan for the TTP, an accusation that Afghanistan denies.

After Thursday’s (February 26, 2026) Afghan attack, Pakistani Defence Minister Khawaja Mohammad Asif declared that “our patience has now run out. Now it is open war between us.”

In the ongoing fighting, each side claims to have killed hundreds of the other side’s forces — and both governments put their own casualties at drastically lower numbers.

Two Pakistani security officials said that Pakistani ground forces were still in control on Sunday (March 1, 2026) of a key Afghan post and a 32-square-kilometer area in the southern Zhob sector near Kandahar province, after having seized it during fighting Friday (February 27, 2026). The captured post and surrounding area remain under Pakistani control, they added. The officials spoke on condition of anonymity, because they weren’t authorised to speak publicly.

In Kabul, the Afghan government rejected Pakistan’s claims. Deputy government spokesman Hamdullah Fitrat called the reports “baseless. ”Afghan officials said that fighting had continued overnight and into Sunday (March 1, 2026) in the border areas.

The police command spokesman for Nangarhar province, Said Tayyeb Hammad, said that anti-aircraft missiles were used from the provincial capital, Jalalabad, and surrounding areas on Pakistani fighter jets flying overhead Sunday (March 1, 2026) morning.

Defence Ministry spokesman Enayatulah Khowarazmi said that Afghan forces had launched counterattacks with snipers across the border from Nangarhar, Paktia, Khost and Kandahar provinces overnight. He said that two Pakistani drones had been shot down and dozens of Pakistani soldiers had been killed.

Mr. Fitrat said that Pakistani drone attacks hit civilian homes in Nangarhar province late Saturday (February 28, 2026), killing a woman and a child, while mortar fire killed another civilian when it hit a home in Paktia province.

There was no immediate response to the claims from Pakistani officials.

Published – March 01, 2026 11:02 pm IST

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Watch: Where do India-Afghanistan ties stand under Taliban rule?

admin — Wed, 29 Oct 2025 08:26:00 +0000

What is the situation inside Afghanistan? We are joined by Dr. Nilofar Sakhi, a faculty member at the Elliott School of International Affairs at George Washington University. She is also the president of the Andiana Foundation, a US-based think tank, and a nonresident senior fellow at the Atlantic Council.

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Watch: Trump says U.S. is trying to ‘get back’ Bagram Air Base in Afghanistan

admin — Fri, 19 Sep 2025 16:53:00 +0000

Donald Trump declared that the US is trying to retake Afghanistan’s Bagram airbase, which was abandoned to the Taliban in the chaotic 2021 withdrawal. He tied the plan to China’s growing nuclear weapons threat, calling the base a critical strategic outpost.

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Polio Returns To Pakistan, Afghanistan As Vaccinations Stall

admin — Sat, 25 Jan 2025 07:54:22 +0000

Poliomyelitis was responsible for paralysing and killing up to half a million people every year before the development of the poliovirus vaccine in 1955. By 2000, through mass vaccination campaigns of oral polio vaccines, the world had almost eradicated poiliovirus barring a few regions.

However, the global fight against polio has encountered a significant setback, as cases of the disease have begun to rise again in Pakistan. Despite being on the brink of eradication in 2023, with only six reported cases of the wild form of the virus, the number of cases has surged to 73 in 2024. This alarming trend has prompted concerns among health experts, who point to the ongoing conflict in Afghanistan as a major factor contributing to the spread of the disease.

Per data from the WHO, infectious diseases such as pneumonia, dengue fever and measles have also been on the rise in Afghanistan since the last six months.

Zulfiqar Bhutta, a renowned expert on child immunisation strategies in conflict zones, said that the genetic strains of wild poliovirus in Pakistan are all from Afghanistan, per a report on Deutsche Welle.

Bhutta, who has worked extensively in the region, attributes the resurgence of polio cases in Pakistan to the spillover of the virus from Afghanistan. “It has spread to all districts of Pakistan. We’ve snatched defeat from the jaws of victory,” Bhutta lamented.

“It’s a virus that does not want to be eradicated, so give it an inch and it will take a yard,” Bhutta said.

The challenges facing polio eradication efforts in the region are multifaceted. Bhutta cites the Taliban’s restrictions on female health professionals, poor sanitary conditions, and regional insecurity as significant obstacles. The lack of reliable data on poliovirus cases in Afghanistan further complicates efforts to combat the disease.

Pakistan has invested heavily in poliovirus immunisation programs, with an estimated $10 billion spent since 2011. Despite these efforts, the country’s progress in eradicating the disease has been uneven, with varying immunisation rates across provinces. In Punjab, 85% of children are vaccinated, while in Balochistan the rate is as low as 30%. Until the coverage reaches 85-90% in all provinces, it is not possible to eradicate it, Bhutta said. He also emphasises the need for a comprehensive review of immunisation strategies, highlighting the importance of strengthening routine immunisation programs for all infectious diseases, not just polio.

Bhutta’s expertise in working with the Taliban in Afghanistan offers valuable insights into the complexities of delivering healthcare services in conflict zones. He stresses that the Taliban are not the enemy and that they share the same health concerns as everyone else. Bhutta’s experience in working with the Taliban to deliver smallpox vaccines during periods of negotiated peace underscores the potential for collaboration in addressing health needs.

The resurgence of polio cases in Pakistan serves as a stark reminder of the need for sustained efforts in combating infectious diseases. Bhutta’s call for a comprehensive review of immunisation strategies and his emphasis on addressing broader health needs in the region offer a way forward in the fight against polio. Ultimately, eradicating poliovirus in the region will require a concerted effort from international and local health authorities, as well as collaboration with the Taliban government in Afghanistan.

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Taliban’s Latest Diktat To NGOs In Afghanistan

admin — Mon, 30 Dec 2024 09:07:34 +0000

In yet another draconian move to curtail women’s freedom in Afghanistan, the Taliban said it will close all national and foreign non-governmental groups in the country employing women.

In a letter published on X on Sunday night, Afghanistan’s Economy Ministry warned that failure to comply with the latest order would lead to NGOs losing their license to operate in the country.

“The Ministry of Economy, as the authority for registering non-Emirati institutions, is responsible for coordinating, leading, and supervising all activities of domestic and foreign NGOs,” the post in Persian read.

“Therefore, once again, a follow-up circular has been issued to stop the work of female employees in non-Emirati and foreign institutions. In case of non-cooperation, all activities of the offending institution will be suspended and the activity license they received from this ministry will be cancelled,” it added.

وزارت اقتصاد منحیث مرجع ثبت و راجستر موسسات غیر امارتی، مسولیت انسجام، رهبری و نظارت تمامی فعالیت های انجو های داخلی و خارجی را به عهده دارد.
بناً یکبار دیگر طی متحدالمال تعقیبی در مورد توقف کار طبقه اناث در موسسات غیر امارتی داخلی و خارجی هدایت داده شده است. در صورت عدم همکاری… pic.twitter.com/kqiW7Re3an

— Ministry of Economy-Afghanistan (@economy_af) December 29, 2024

This comes two years after the Taliban told NGOs to suspend the employment of Afghan women, allegedly because they didn’t wear the Islamic headscarf correctly, according to a report by the Associated Press.

Since the Taliban returned to power in Afghanistan three years ago, Afghan women have been excluded from almost every sphere of public life, including schools, universities, most workplaces – and even parks and bathhouses. The Taliban have already barred women from many jobs and most public spaces. They have also excluded them from education beyond sixth grade.

Earlier, the Taliban prohibited the construction of windows in residential buildings overlooking areas used by Afghan women. Announcing the move, Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid explained in a statement on X, “Seeing women working in kitchens, in courtyards or collecting water from wells can lead to obscene acts.”

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Opinion: A Murky Rivalry Is Brewing In India's Neighbourhood

admin — Mon, 30 Dec 2024 07:21:44 +0000

The Afghans are understandably furious. After more than two decades of unleashing terror on them from the mujahideen era through the Taliban times, Pakistan decided to bomb Afghan villages on Tuesday, killing some 46 people, including women and children. The villages allegedly sheltered the cadres of the Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP).

That’s ironic. The TTP is hardly an Afghan product. It is, in effect, the final result of Pakistan’s own disastrous policy of backing and sheltering a variety of terrorists. Remember Hillary Clinton’s famous jibe in 2011 about the dangers of Pakistan keeping snakes in its backyard that would inevitably turn around and strike its benefactor? This seems to be it.

Why The Attack

Pakistan’s diplomacy seems a little quixotic, though one can never tell with regard to Islamabad. Veteran diplomat Mohammad Sadiq, who has served six years as an ambassador and is now a reappointed special representative to Afghanistan, was in Kabul recently. By his own account, he received a gracious welcome, especially by the Foreign Ministry led by Amir Khan Muttaqi. The latter has been a frequent guest of Pakistan, both in the past and in recent years, and was once seen strolling with Foreign Minister Bilawal. According to a formal statement, the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan declared its determination to maintain good relations and encourage trade and transit.

All very encouraging. Hours later though, Pakistani fighter aircraft were bombing and strafing Barmal in Paktika, a province that is the hometown of Muttaqi. According to reports, some 46 people were killed in Barmal; the strikes also apparently hit a refugee camp. Pakistan claimed that it had targeted TTP leaders, including Akhtar Muhammad, the head of the TTP’s Umar Media.

An apparently furious Kabul summoned the Pakistani charge d’ affairs and issued a strong protest, calling the strikes a “deliberate attempt by certain circles in Pakistan aimed at undermining trust and causing friction in the relations of the two nations” (meaning, with the Pakistan army) and declaring that “the Pakistani side has been clearly informed that protecting Afghanistan’s national sovereignty is a red line for the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan, and such actions are viewed highly irresponsible and will inevitably bear repercussions”. Quite a statement. Afghanistan doesn’t have an army in the conventional sense, but a threat from a country that has exhausted empires and superpowers needs to be taken seriously. True, a large part of the government has a ‘Made in Pakistan’ stamp, but Afghans have rarely ever taken attacks lying down.

The Homemade Threat

Meanwhile, the reason for the attacks are clear in one respect. The Pakistanis have endured a lot. According to available data, Pakistan faced as many as 785 attacks in just this year, with 55 security forces lost in the first weeks of November alone. Just a week ago, a most brutal attack in Makeen reportedly killed 35 soldiers. This was probably the immediate trigger for the air attacks even as Pakistani security forces launched a so-called IBO (Intelligence based operation) in the areas opposite Paktia to flush out terrorists.

However, if anything, such operations have had a more deleterious effect than success. Earlier, policemen would rebel against Pakistan army operations in Lakki Marwat, demanding that the military quit ‘meddling’ in the area, even as hundreds blocked the Indus Highway in protest. Further north is the unending conflict in Kurram, where a Shia majority is battling the state’s attempts to settle in more Sunnis. Kurram, being the shortest route to reach Kabul, has long been a major ingress point for operations into Afghanistan. That such operations continue is a given. The locals are tired of being pawns in a game played by Rawalpindi.

Pashtuns Are Unhappy

Add to all this unhappiness in the tribal areas after the arrests of leaders of the peaceful Pashtun Tahaffuz Movement (Pashtun Protection Force, or PTM), including the charismatic Manzur Pashteen. After half a century of exploitation and violence, all they were asking for was peace, removal of all mines, an end to humiliating check posts, and free movement into Afghanistan. In December, Islamabad also chose to ban the PTM and followed that up with arresting the leaders of the movement. That is hardly likely to improve matters given that Pashtuns, the second-largest ethnic group in the country, will only end up feeling even more alienated, and might be pushed further towards jihadi groups. In short, with the whole border on fire, any group will face little difficulty in getting recruits.

Declarations Of Retribution

Kabul has promised retribution. Attacks on security personnel have gone up hugely. Kabul can upscale these and perhaps even take on a larger target. But here’s the thing: the Taliban are heavily divided, with leaders like Sirajuddin Haqqani and Muttaqi, among others, being more Pakistani than Afghan. The assassination of Siraj’s powerful uncle Khalil Haqqani, claimed by the IS-K, could not have happened without some insider support. Khalil was at odds with the Kandahar leadership, which, apart from being heavily conservative, has a faction of clerics who have studied in Pakistan and are affiliated to major madrassas there. Add to this the fact that Haqqani and others have their support bases in areas bombed both recently as well as earlier in March. In sum, it seems that the airstrikes were a warning by Rawalpindi to get greater control of decision-making in Kabul, as well as an attempt to push for action against those TTP factions that are attacking Pakistan. Rawalpindi, as is its practice, has its own factions that it can use for its ‘strategic’ play.

Meanwhile, the Taliban are in a cleft stick. Action against the TTP may just lead to more recruits for the Islamic State in Khorasan (IS-K), Kabul’s biggest threat. For the Taliban, support from China and Russia depends heavily on its actions against IS-K, something UN reports acknowledge. UN reports also observe that the IS-K is strengthening with about 6,000 fighters. More worryingly, they note cooperation between it, the TTP and al Qaeda, which could transform the TTP into a ‘regional threat’ against India, Myanmar and Bangladesh. That’s a new development, though there is no evidence to support that the TTP or its affiliates have any interest in India. The IS-K, however, has released a barrage of propaganda material, such as the Sawt al Hind (Voice of Hind) and other publications, to highlight Hindu-Muslim divisions in India. Delhi will be keeping a close eye on such developments keeping in mind Pakistan’s continued ability to influence multiple factions in Afghanistan.

India needs to engage more strongly with Kabul and Kandahar and keep a close eye on the multiple players now active along the Pakistan-Afghanistan border, including a new al Qaeda presence in Nangarhar. There is a puzzling mix of motives here, including individual ambitions of Taliban leaders, Pashtun nationalism, and, most significant of all, the continuing Pakistani determination to dominate Afghanistan. That has never died, nor is it likely to in the foreseeable future. This is the one constant for Afghanistan, and that is the prism through which all actions by Pakistan need to be viewed.

Meanwhile, wait for it. A huge backlash can be expected, as local Taliban leaders react in anger, and if this is encouraged by Kabul, a large incursion into the tribal areas can’t be ruled out. Never has the Durand Line been more danger, but the real threat would emerge if the anger along the border both within and outside coalesces into one mighty backlash. Watch that space.

(Tara Kartha is a former Director in the NSCS)

Disclaimer: These are the personal opinions of the author

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