Army chief Gen Asim Munir deserves commendation for making a solemn pledge that all the planners and facilitators of the recent terrorist attack on Bannu Cantonment will be brought to justice “wherever they may be”.
It is increasingly clear that the terrorists were getting instructions from their handlers in Afghanistan where Taliban 2.0 has emerged one of Pakistan’s major enemies in view of its overt support to Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP).
There is no denying that the current Afghan rulers, who came to power in 2019, are deriving their strength from the forces that are inimical to Pakistan’s interests. It is important to recall that it was Pakistan that lent a helping hand to the Afghan Taliban to effectively deal with the US strategy that was based on the assumption that it could eliminate the Taliban simply by killing.
Had it not been Pakistan’s consistent support to Taliban, the US could have easily cobbled an alliance of other Afghan groups and factions to rule this landlocked country.
Unfortunately, however, the Afghan Taliban have never felt or expressed gratitude or appreciation for the help that Pakistan had extended to them for several decades.
The terrorists’ facilitators and handlers ‘wherever they may be’ deserve punishment for the crimes that they have been committing against Pakistan and its people without any further loss of time. The Afghan Taliban were expected to make a clean break from various terrorists organisations. But they haven’t done that thus far.
Hamidul Haq Shinwari (Quetta)
Copyright Business Recorder, 2025
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