Alwaght- Undoubtedly, the Taliban phenomenon is one of the complicated puzzles that still remains unresolved in the field of political and regional security. As the emergence of the Taliban has had many complicated dimensions, and after more than two decades since the formation of such a phenomenon, there are still many uncertainties about its thoughts, religion, ideology, and also its political and security aspects. The complexity and mysteriousness of the Taliban increase when the US and International Security Assistance Forces (ISAF) attacked Afghanistan in October 2001 to eliminate the Taliban and al-Qaeda, but actually they further stimulated the growth, development and continuation of the Taliban, as the Taliban continued to exist in both Afghanistan and Pakistan and even more groups attributed to Taliban became active. During the years following the formation of the Taliban in Afghanistan, Pakistan has always been accused of supporting the Taliban. However, Pakistan revealed the role of the US, Britain and Saudi Arabia in creating, supporting, training, equipping and strengthening the Taliban, as Benazir Bhutto, the former Prime Minister of Pakistan said: "The US, Britain and Saudi Arabia are charged with forming the Taliban and al-Qaeda", but almost after 2007, Pakistan was recognized as the main supporter of the Taliban. Further, the US and NATO announced that Pakistan plays a dual role in combating terrorism.
The fact is that the role of regional and trans-regional actors in dealing with the Taliban has somehow increased the uncertainties about Taliban and its dimensions in Afghanistan and Pakistan. The Taliban group has currently expanded from the local-national level to a regional level, and in addition to the Afghan Taliban, its other wings such the Pakistani Taliban, Waziristan Taliban, Punjabi Taliban, Uzbek Taliban, etc., have also become active. For sure, foreign powers, particularly Britain and the United States have had an essential role in the rise of terrorist and extremists groups such as al-Qaeda, Taliban, ISIS, Boko Haram, etc. It is true that foreign forces accuse the security services of Pakistan including ISI, of supporting the Taliban militants in Afghanistan, and claim that Pakistan oversees Taliban leaders and militia groups operating in the border areas, but Western countries, with their unclear and divisive policies, have played a pivotal role in equipping, training and supporting the armed groups such as al-Qaida, Taliban, and ISIS. In fact, the creation of the Taliban and its expansion is a process that began in collaboration with some countries of the region, i.e., Pakistan, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates and hegemonic international powers namely the US and Britain, and they still continue this process with a certain intensity. However, the question this news article tries to address is "what is the position of Pakistan in taking advantage of the Taliban and the new government of Afghanistan?" In this regard, a few points are worth mentioning:
First, one should make distinction between the Afghan Taliban and the Pakistani Taliban, and institutions effective in strengthening or weakening the Taliban (i.e., the government and army of Pakistan). What is closer to reality is that the Pakistani military, seeks to undermine and destroy the Taliban in Pakistan's tribal areas; however, it sees the Afghan Taliban as the capital and means to achieve its goals in Afghanistan and still hopes to form a government in Afghanistan, in which Taliban plays a significant role. Nawaz Sharif's government collaborates with the Pakistani army in this regard; however, he has been trying to negotiate with the Taliban inside Pakistan, and fulfill the election promises he had given to the Pakistani Taliban in parliamentary elections in 2013, he also tries to take advantage of the capacity of the Pakistani Taliban and the extremist groups to strengthen the Pakistan government and promote its own policies. (It is clear that one of the reasons behind the expansion of Taliban's influence in Pakistan is the British divisive politics and Saudi's financial aids in the form of charitable contributions to religious institutions and mosques).
Another key point to bear in mind is the fact that the Taliban in Afghanistan and Pakistan, have the same ethnic, religious, linguistic and cultural roots and share strong bonds with each other; however, the strategy and policy of the Afghan Taliban is somewhat different with that of Pakistan in the political sphere. The Afghan Taliban seeks to negotiate with the determining power in Afghanistan, i.e., the US rather than the national unity government led by Ashraf Ghani. (Although Ashraf Ghani tries to grant concessions to the Taliban group to persuade it to enter into negotiation, but no significant talks have been held between the two sides. Nevertheless, the Afghan Taliban has just been participating in various meetings and conferences in different parts of the world to introduce and spread its ideas and views and somehow give legitimacy to the Taliban in Afghanistan). But the strategy of Pakistani Taliban is based on the establishment of the Islamic Emirate in the tribal areas such as North and South Waziristan.
The third point is the fact that in recent years, the relations between the Pakistani army and the Taliban movement has undergone serious changes. If we acknowledge that the military and the Pakistani government, seek to establish a government in Afghanistan which is pro-Pakistan and under its influence, you see that within Pakistan, the army is trying to control the anti-Islamabad Taliban, and wrest full control over tribal areas. Therefore, those analyses are far from reality which imply that the Pakistani army aims to create a buffer zone in border areas and make way for the militia groups affiliated with the Taliban. Pakistani military has been trying to conduct multiple operations to dominate the region, and clear these areas from militants linked to al-Qaida, the Taliban and other foreign extremist groups in Pakistan. Pakistan seeks to both eliminate the threat and create opportunities for itself, perhaps that is why Islamabad categorizes the Taliban as good and bad or the moderate and extremist, which has to do with the Taliban's compliance or defiance. This means that the Pakistani Taliban should be good and submissive in the sense defined by Pakistan; otherwise, it will be removed from the scene or it will be undermined. This policy is mainly advocated by the actors that aim to control and influence the Taliban-led intervention in Afghanistan. That is why many Afghan government officials have frequently called Pakistan as the haven and breeding ground of terrorism, and have asked foreign countries to target the shelters of the Taliban across Durand border; they have also warned Pakistan not to interfere with domestic affairs of Afghanistan and to stop supporting the Taliban.
Another point is the fact that the infiltration of ISIS as a new phenomenon imposed on Afghanistan has led to changes in behavior of the Afghan Taliban. It is reported that ISIS terrorist group seeks to establish a base in northern Badakhshan province; therefore, the fights in Afghanistan have spread from the south to the north. However, it appears that the Afghan Taliban, has lost its functions for its supporters including the Western and Arab countries. As a result, they try to compensate for their failure in Syria, Iraq and Yemen, and make attempts to create insecurity in Afghanistan to strike a blow to Iran. Regardless of the fact that who have supported and expanded the ISIS terrorist group in Afghanistan, those countries are currently worried about their own military and political positions; therefore, over the past few months they have been trying to launch attacks and take up some areas in the south and north, and demonstrate their power, and undermine the ISIS, so that they can hold the upper hand in peace negotiations and also stabilize their political and military situation to a great extent. Pakistan has been trying to develop close ties with the new Afghan government, and direct the negotiations between the Taliban and the national unity government, and also take maximum advantage from them. Pakistan is also likely to tactically support the infiltration and expansion of ISIS in some parts of Afghanistan to put Ashraf Ghani government under pressure and win some concessions.
The last point about Pakistan which is taking advantage of the Taliban and the new government led by Ashraf Ghani is the fact that Pakistan continues to consider Afghanistan its strategic depth and exerts a major influence on the Afghan Taliban, so it is still effective in strengthening the Afghan Taliban. However, Pakistan the same as Afghanistan, is surrounded by interventionist and conflicting policies of different actors, including Britain, the US and Saudi Arabia, and it seems that parts of the Taliban especially in Pakistan, are out of control of Islamabad. This means that Pakistan is not the only supporter of Taliban and its related groups. In fact, external actors play an essential role in creation and strengthening of such militia groups. Therefore, the Taliban in Pakistan itself has currently turned into a challenge for Islamabad, and the Afghan Taliban is gradually trying to display its independence and liberate itself from Pakistan.
