Asif Durrani, Pakistan’s former envoy for Afghanistan, says the Taliban’s harbouring of terrorist groups risks a repeat of the 9/11 attacks and could have unpredictable consequences for the region.
In a note published on Saturday, 4 July, Durrani said the Taliban should recognise that it lacks international legitimacy. He claimed the Afghan Taliban was sheltering dozens of terrorist groups, including the Pakistani Taliban, Islamic State and the Baloch Liberation Army.
The Pakistani diplomat said alleged Indian financial support for the Pakistani Taliban and the Baloch Liberation Army was alarming. He warned that continuing such policies amounted to playing with fire for both the Taliban and New Delhi.
Durrani wrote that history had repeatedly shown violent proxies eventually endanger those who nurture them. His remarks come as Pakistan itself has long been accused of supporting and cultivating the Taliban, a group now at odds with Islamabad.
On Friday, the former Pakistani envoy also told Afghanistan International that Pakistani military strikes inside Afghanistan would continue as long as attacks by Pakistani Taliban militants were launched from Afghan territory against Islamabad.
Durrani said conflict and tensions between the Afghan Taliban and Pakistan would persist until those threats were eliminated.
His warning of another 9/11 refers to one of the deadliest terrorist attacks in modern history. On 11 September 2001, members of al-Qaeda hijacked four passenger planes, two of which struck the twin towers of the World Trade Center in New York.
Nearly 3,000 people were killed and thousands more wounded in the attacks, which led to the collapse of the Taliban’s first regime and the deployment of international forces in Afghanistan.
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