Mistrust, mayhem and militants: Stakes are high as trouble brews on Afghan-Pakistan border
Afghanistan has once again become a hotbed for a myriad of militant groups while the global isolation of the Taliban increases human suffering in two countries.
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Three years into the Taliban rule in Afghanistan, and neighbour Pakistan is looking increasingly ragged around the edges with the former head of Pakistan’s intelligence agency facing court martial, a former prime minister languishing in jail. And while human rights violations mount daily, hundreds of Pakistani soldiers are being killed in cross border attacks by militants living in Afghanistan.
Pakistan’s southwestern Balochistan province is battered by a violent secessionist movement, led by the Balochistan Liberation Army. Among others, the Balochistan Liberation Army, who hide in neighbouring Afghanistan, often in plain sight, have taken aim at China and its Chinese workers, who are in Pakistan implementing Beijing’s One Road One Belt initiative that links China to its neighbours.
Last month, Pakistan’s former intelligence czar, General Faiz Hameed was arrested for “multiple instances of violations of the Pakistan Army Act”, after retiring, according to the official army statement. Those offences are said to be linked to alleged shady real estate deals among other alleged crimes.
Mutual mistrust
Afghans will remember general Hameed, from August 15, 2021, when he was seen in Kabul just hours after the collapse of the United States-backed government of President Ashraf Ghani and the return of the Taliban to power. He was sitting in a luxurious five-star hotel, saying it...