Afghanistan has never been in control of its own tragedy. The conflict in that nation has over decades, spilled over taking with it refugees, arms, narcotics, and extremism into the rest of the region. It is the darker concept however that is being based in Pakistan and even further with the Taliban regime. Afghanistan does not appear to be offering the region the promise of equality, restoring, or considerable trade any longer. Instead, it is increasingly being viewed as the supplier of the two instruments of modern terror suicide bombers and suicide drones. This impression is not only by the message it conveys of the Taliban regime but also the message it conveys to the future of the security of this region.

The propensity of cross border violence to get organized, more common and advanced cannot be ignored by no serious state. Pakistan has been enduring victims of the militants’ attacks by the groups that take refuge, encouragement or freedom of movement in Afghanistan. The worst part is that what is dangerous nowadays is the fact that the nature of this violence is changing. The old threat of being discovered and assaulted by armed forces has not been eliminated, only it is being reinforced with the help of the so-called asymmetric warfare that is less visible and cheaper as well as psychologically devastating. A suicide bomber would be able to blow up a marketplace, a mosque or a military convoy in the few seconds. The weapon of a drone can attack over a long distance, it can cause panic in a large geographical area, and it can act as the signal that militancy is transforming at a pace that is even more rapid than the states that are trying to limit it.

This is what makes the most visible of the exports made by the Taliban regime to Pakistan more of a destabilization strategy rather than a product and an act of charity. It is a most inhumane sentence, and it is founded upon the heightened consciousness that the Afghan territory occupied by the Taliban troops can or will not ensure the elimination of militant components by acting as a deployment point. Taliban took power claiming that they will bring sanity in Afghanistan and to protect its soil against other people. But what can be observed on the other side of the border tells the contrary. When the fighters, networks, and planners operating in the soil of Afghanistan are attacking Pakistan, then the Taliban cannot afford to hide behind the sophistication of sovereignty and noninterference. Sovereignty is obligatory. A government that is possessed by power is also the government that practices its power and is answerable to what exudes out of it.

The fact that the suicide bombers have become a cross-border threat is especially deplorable as this shows the ideology of negation. Suicide terrorism is the assault not just at the life of people, but that of the politics as such. It rejects bargaining, co-existence and legislation. It exalts death against civic order, and digests absolutism. As soon as such tactics have a space to organize and inoculate, every effort towards the attainment of regional peace is polluted. Pakistan already strains due to its internal security problem, it cannot be expected to be able to take one wave after another of such violence, and to say meekly that it is not aware of what is possibly making the problem. A neighbouring state that is incapable of putting those players on their knees evokes suspicions, anger and failure of relationships.

Another level of threat is the use of suicide drone. Drones are not merely the weapons, but the mark of the new age of militancy. They decrease the gap between the deed and the will. They facilitate disproportionate fear in small-sized groups. They may be used in surveillance, intimidation, attacks against and propaganda. Most important, they destroy the boundary between a war and a non-war territory. Once the militant groups acquire the drone technology, even at the rawest stage, they will end up achieving a force multiplier that will cause disruption to entire districts and stretch the security agencies to limits. When such tools are being passed to Pakistan either directly or indirectly then the threat ceases to be the issue of insurgents going through mountains. It is worrying that there is effective innovation of service spreading to terror.

Taliban should understand that perception is one critical aspect of international politics almost equivalent to intent. They may not necessarily take the direct blame of all the cross-border violence, but their effectiveness in combating the networks will be determined by how well they appear to be combating them. The Taliban rule now has a reputation of a nation that is highly unsolvable. It appears that suicide bombers and weaponized drones are its most efficient cross border exports to Pakistan, and not commerce, connectivity and cooperation. That image will solidify unless the Taliban takes visible and verifiable steps to target militant safe havens, training facilities and logistical pipelines. This can only be achieved by inactions, denial or selective action which reinforces Afghanistan to a state of being a free for all zones.

Not only is this a concern to the Pakistani side, but also to the Afghanistan as well. A government which allows its territory to relate to the exporting of asymmetric violence will not be accorded legitimate, investment and trust. It will make its people even more alienated. It is a long time since the Afghans had a state with roads, schools, hospitals, and markets open to them. They do not require leaders whose governance is slowly being used as a stage that promotes the local militancy. There is a tendency of the Taliban asking the world to engage them pragmatically. Instead, pragmatism is a two-sided one. There is no neighbour who can easily relate to a government which seems to be unable to stop the entry of bombers and drones into its borders.

© Eurasia Review