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By Zahid Rabbani
Tensions between Afghanistan and Pakistan smolder after an assassination attempt targeted the head of mission, Ubaid Ur Rehman Nizamani on the Pakistan embassy compound. There attack critically injured a Pakistani security guard.
Nizamani arrived in Kabul last month to take up the role at one of the few embassies that had remained operational throughout the period after the Taliban took over the country in August 2021. The attacker failed to harm the Pakistani diplomat but shot and wounded his protector.
In a statement issued after the attack on Pakistan’s top diplomat, Pakistan’s foreign ministry said the Interim Government of Afghanistan must immediately hold thorough investigations into this attack, apprehend the culprits, hold them to account, and take urgent measures to ensure the safety and security of Pakistani diplomatic personnel and citizens in Afghanistan.
Pakistan Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif also tweeted, “I strongly condemn the dastardly assassination attempt on Pakistan Head of Mission in Kabul. I demand immediate investigation & action against perpetrators of this heinous act.”
The shooting comes a day after Pakistan’s government demanded Afghanistan’s Taliban rulers prevent “terrorist” attacks coming from their soil and days after Deputy Foreign Minister Hina Rabbani Khar visited Kabul to hold talks with her Afghan counterpart amid border tensions between the two neighbors.
The Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) armed group, also known as the Pakistani Taliban, claimed responsibility for a suicide bombing earlier in the week that killed four people in southwestern Pakistan that sent a wave of shock and anger across the nation.
Although a spokesperson for the Taliban’s ministry of foreign affairs Abdul Qahar Balkhi has denounced the attack saying, “Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan strongly condemns the attempted shooting and failed attack on the Pakistani embassy in Kabul.” However, mere condemnation is not enough. Afghanistan should try to keep things in check.
Tensions between Islamabad and Kabul continue to rise. While Pakistan has made efforts to smooth over the growing rift the Afghan Taliban are not doing enough to control armed fighters sheltering in their country who stage attacks across the border – a charge, that the Taliban denied.
The Taliban government has not helped Pakistan secure and stabilize its western border. The TTP remains based in Afghanistan and conducts attacks from there. Over 155 Pakistani security personnel have lost their lives in these attacks in the past year.
The violent activities of Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan continue to be a source of concern and frustration for Islamabad. There has been a spike in cross-border terror attacks by TTP since the Taliban’s assumption of power.
The most recent quarterly report of the UN Secretary-General on Afghanistan, submitted to the Security Council in September, referred to “the continuing presence and activities of foreign groups in Afghanistan and its border areas“.
It also said border tensions and security incidents have continued along the country’s border with Pakistan. There are 3,000 to 4,000 armed fighters located along the east and southeast Afghanistan-Pakistan border areas.
Apparently, all is not well in relations between Pakistan and Afghanistan. The current vocal fighting between officials of the two countries testifies to the fact. Last week, the Afghan deputy foreign minister blamed Islamabad for “receiving millions of dollars” from the US to permit American drones to fly over Pakistan’s airspace for operations in Afghanistan.
Sher Abbas Stanekzai’s statement was manifestly in response to Pakistan’s PM UN General Assembly address, in which he said that Pakistan shared the apprehension of the international community about terrorist groups operating from Afghanistan’s soil.
The assertion by the Afghan minister provoked a likely response from the Pakistan Foreign Office spokesperson who called it against the spirit of friendly relations between the two neighbors. When Kabul will take care of Islamabad’s sensitivity?
