But will Kabul play ball?
Sartaj Aziz, or whoever is supposed to represent the foreign ministry on a more permanent basis, can cry himself hoarse, but it is unlikely that Kabul will seriously follow through on demands to hand over Mulla Fazlullah. True, the Afghans have worried about the Waziristan sanctuary practically since Karzai took office and the Afghan insurgency began. But, while that remains Kabul’s official position – or did till Zarb e Azb – it bears noting that such worries extended only to Afghan Taliban allegedly consolidating in Pakistan; the so-called Quetta shura and its disciples.
The TTP is a very different entity, and despite appearances, it has no linkages with Afghanistan’s former rulers. Not only was it set up by al Qaeda largesse when Mulla Omer forbade his followers from confronting the Pakistani military (for obvious reasons), its funding and arming has been taken over by Afghan intelligence over the years, according to local and foreign media reports, not to mention repeated ISI warnings. Subsequently, it was able to penetrate deep into Pakistani society and develop assets in some of the most sensitive agencies – a quid pro quo of sorts for Pakistan’s long years of strategic depth in Afghanistan.
It is not very likely, therefore, that Kabul will suddenly pull the plug on Fazlullah just to keep appearances. They still have grave concerns, especially about Pakistan still planning a Taliban return to power via Kandahar, like old times. But Pakistan does have the upper hand now. It has come out clearly against “all hues and colours” of terrorists, which, at least for the sake of political correctness, does include our friends the Haqqanis, the Ahmadzai wazirs of South Waziristan, and even the Afghan Taliban of old, long rumoured to be the army’s pets for the next round of strategic depth when the Americans leave. It is now up to Afghanistan, and its American friends, to respond to Pakistan’s military operation in the badlands in the same spirit. If they flush some of our bad boys from their area, they just might be repaid in kind, so goes the thinking.
