Peshawar
A bloody war seems to be breaking out in India’s neighbourhood. The friendship between Pakistan and Taliban has now started turning into enmity and both the countries came face to face with each other. After Pakistan’s airstrike, now Afghanistan has also decided to take revenge. 15 thousand Taliban fighters are moving rapidly towards Pakistan.
Pakistan had targeted suspected hideouts of Pakistani Taliban by carrying out air strikes in Afghanistan late night on Tuesday (24 December). At least 46 people have been killed in the airstrike.
Taliban fighters moved towards Pakistan
Tension between the two countries has increased only after Pakistan’s airstrike. According to the information, 15,000 Taliban fighters are moving from Kabul, Kandahar and Herat towards Mir Ali border of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province of Pakistan. These Taliban fighters are ready to take revenge of the airstrike from Pakistan. Taliban spokesperson says that Pakistan will get a befitting reply for its action.
‘We will definitely respond to the cowardly attack…’
At the same time, Afghanistan’s Defense Ministry has strongly condemned the Pakistani airstrike and called it a violation of international rules. He alleges that common people including women and children were also targeted in the airstrike. The Defense Ministry said on this, ‘It is our right to protect our motherland. We will definitely respond to this cowardly attack.
Why increased tension?
The TTP is a separate terrorist organization but is considered a close ally of the Afghan Taliban, which took power in Afghanistan in August 2021. Pakistan has experienced a large number of terrorist attacks over the past two decades, but they have increased in recent months. The TTP recently attacked a check post in the north-west, killing at least 16 Pakistani soldiers.
Pakistani officials have accused the Taliban of not taking enough steps to curb terrorist activities along the shared border. However, the Taliban government has rejected Pakistan’s allegations and said that it does not allow any organization to carry out attacks against any country.
What is Taliban’s strategy?
The Afghan Taliban has long shown that it is not going to bow down to any major military power. It challenged superpowers like America and Russia for years and ultimately forced them to return from Afghanistan. Pakistan neither has the military strength nor the economic capacity to face the Taliban.
Due to increasing activities on Mir Ali border, Pakistan has also put its army on alert. The deployment of troops in the border areas has been intensified. There is an atmosphere of fear among the local people and the situation is indicating a major conflict. As tensions increase, it remains to be seen in which direction this conflict between Pakistan and Taliban will progress.
The Taliban emerged in northern Pakistan in the early 1990s after the withdrawal of Russian troops from Afghanistan. In Pashto language, Taliban means students, especially those students who are inspired by radical Islamic religious teachings. It is said that radical Sunni Islamic scholars had laid their foundation in Pakistan with the help of religious institutions. Devvandi ideology has full influence on Taliban. The financial help coming from Saudi Arabia was considered responsible for raising the Taliban.
Initially the Taliban announced that their aim was to end foreign rule from Islamic areas and establish Sharia law and an Islamic state there. Initially, the people, fed up with the atrocities of feudal lords and corruption of officials, saw the Messiah in Taliban and in many areas the tribal people welcomed them but later fanaticism also ended the popularity of Taliban but by then Taliban had become so powerful. It was such that people’s hope of getting rid of it was gone.
What is the military strength of Afghan and Taliban?
How powerful is the Taliban that it is overpowering the Afghan army? First Vice President of Afghanistan says- ‘Taliban will be eliminated soon. They have around 80 thousand fighters and the Afghan army has between 5 to 6 lakh soldiers. Apart from this, Afghanistan has an air force which will overwhelm the Taliban. However, despite this claim, there are many facts which prove that Taliban is strong at the ground level.
The manpower source of Taliban is the tribes settled in tribal areas and their fighters. Apart from this, fundamentalist religious institutions and madrassas are also supporting his idea. But most of all the secret help of Pakistani Army and ISI is proving to be helpful for Taliban. American intelligence assessments also clarify the ground situation which states that within 6 months of the withdrawal of American troops, the dominance of the Afghan government will end and Taliban rule may come.
