By: Asem Mustafa Awan
Hawaldar Saleem, 43, and Lance Naik Pervez, 38, were shot dead by terrorists from Afghanistan at the Dawa Toi military post in North Waziristan. Afghan terrorists suffered heavy casualties due to retaliatory firing by the Pakistani army and fled from the scene after making the cowardly attack.
The withdrawal of US troops from Afghanistan and the changing political and defense situation giving Afghan terrorists an opportunity to target Pakistan.
The transition in Afghanistan is viewed globally with extreme care and two decades of fighting with the Coalition Forces is finally coming to an end. The Taliban considered it their victory in making the United States leaving Afghanistan. The price of course has been very high as millions were displaced and thousands were killed by the US bombing. There was no remorse from the US side who dropped (MOAB) Mother of All Bombs in Afghanistan.
Pakistan has always stressed the need for the peace dialogue for the warring Afghan and the Coalition Forces and it materialized after two decades. Americans finally realized after losing men and material there is no other option but to talks it out with Afghans who had only one demand in complete US troops withdrawal.
The peace brokered between the warring sides had major contribution coming from Pakistan and finally when the deal was struck the transition has its own price.
Pakistan anticipated the backlash and is trying to contain the damage but the terrorists finding the gap are all out to destabilize the region. First and foremost the fence at the Afghan border will play a pivotal role in near completion and will serve in the management of people crossing over to Pakistan.
It will prevent the terrorists to march into Pakistan and run away with their nefarious deeds. Pakistan border posts are the source of major deterrence and are frequently targeted by terrorists and non-state actors. The instigation is there and with fenced borders, many powers are likely to lose their hold in the region as different countries have different interests namely India and Iran.
The Afghan officials have kept a blind eye but as the fence gets completed the panic is visible from powers that are likely to bite the dust. Pakistan is maintaining a close vigil on all the events that are emerging with the US troops’ withdrawal and is tackling the situation as the need arises.