ISLAMABAD, 24 June 2005 — As violence intensifies in Afghanistan so does a war of words with Pakistan, with Afghans blaming their neighbor for failing to stop insurgents crossing in, or even encouraging them on their way.
Pakistan says it is impossible to seal its border but denies promoting trouble in its western neighbor and believes it should not be held accountable for every Afghan problem.
“Undoubtedly there is a lot of scapegoating going on,” said retired Pakistani general Talat Masood. “Pakistan is also interested in the stability of Afghanistan so I think the accusation is to a large extent not fair.”
But other analysts say Pakistan could do much more to stop what some say is a tide of fighters crossing into south and southeast Afghanistan to wage war against US forces and US-backed government troops.
A surge in violence has left hundreds of people dead in recent months, raising concerns about September’s parliamentary election. The poll is meant to be Afghanistan’s next big step on the path to stability it embarked on after US-led forces toppled the Taleban in 2001.
Grumbling that Pakistan was not stopping the gunmen has this week given way to angry finger-pointing by Afghan officials and demands that Pakistan act against Taleban leaders who Afghans say enjoy sanctuary on Pakistani soil.
“Our people are dying, our schools are getting burned, our mosques are being blown up and our mullahs assassinated,” Afghan presidential spokesman Jawed Ludin told reporters. “What we want is action, now.”
US President George W. Bush, apparently concerned about deteriorating ties between two important US allies, spoke to Pakistan’s President Pervez Musharraf this week.
Musharraf then spoke to President Hamid Karzai in Kabul and assured him about security. Musharraf phoned Karzai again yesterday to reiterate that his country was not interfering in Afghan affairs, a Pakistani official said.
But despite such assurances, diplomats in Kabul and some analysts say the evidence is clear: Pakistan sealed the border before a presidential election last October and violence fizzled out. Now, they say, the gates are open.
“It’s absolutely clear hundreds of Taleban are streaming across the border from Pakistan,” said Pakistani author and expert on Afghan affairs Ahmad Rashid.
“The major recruitment areas for the Taleban seem to be in Pakistan rather than in Afghanistan and there’s growing evidence they’re coming in a very organized fashion, in proper units with proper arms distribution. “It seems that not enough is being done to stop this influx,” he said.
Pakistan, with a large ethnic Pashtun community, has had a particular affinity with Afghanistan’s Pashtuns, its largest ethnic group, who live along the border. Most of the Taleban leaders and fighters are Pashtun.
Pakistan would rather see the reins of power in Afghanistan in the hands of Pashtuns than in those of other ethnic groups such as the Tajiks, who gained much power after the ouster of the Taleban, analysts say.
Pakistan also does not want to see other countries in the region, such as old rival India, gain sway in Kabul.
“Pakistan definitely doesn’t want other countries to have an influence and in that context it seems to be protecting its flanks,” Masood said. “It wants to maintain interests in Afghanistan and wants to have a relationship both with the government and the people of Afghanistan, particularly in the Pashtun area.
“But it’s really not in its interest to promote those people who are not only creating problems in Afghanistan but creating problems in Pakistan.”
With no sign of a let-up in attacks, relations will stay tense but the United States is unlikely to let things get out of hand, another analyst said.
“The United States appears to be acting as a mediator as reflected in the telephone calls,” said Afghan affairs analyst Rahimullah Yusufzai, referring to the calls between Bush, Musharraf and Karzai. “The United States cannot afford division between its allies.”
