Afghan analysts say an increase in attacks on Afghanistan's border is vindicating fears that Pakistan's truce with pro-Taliban rebels will feed the insurgency. The US-led coalition said on Thursday that attacks in parts of Afghanistan opposite the North Waziristan region have tripled in some areas since the ceasefire came into effect there two months ago.
| “It is giving an assurance that they are no more under threat from Pakistan and this is opening a new front in Afghanistan" in provinces on the border...” |
The deal has essentially opened a new front in the Taliban insurgency, said Kabul University politics lecturer and analyst Nasrullah Stanizai. "I think the agreement in Waziristan is indeed giving legitimacy to Taliban and Al Qaeda activities under the name of local Taliban in those areas," he told AFP. "It is giving an assurance that they are no more under threat from Pakistan and this is opening a new front in Afghanistan" in provinces on the border, he said.
Reflecting suspicion here about the motives of Islamabad, Stanizai said the move was an "organised attempt by Pakistan to destabilise Afghanistan". The spike in attacks, which suggests an increase in the movement of militants from across the border, was not promising, analysts and officials in Kabul said. |