The eighth Moscow Format consultations on Afghanistan concluded on October 5 without a joint communiqué. The immediate disagreement was between Pakistan and the Taliban over the language on terrorism. Russian envoy Zamir Kabulov admitted that participants could not agree on the final wording. Yet the disagreement revealed something more important: Afghanistan remains one of the region’s most difficult security questions, with neighbouring states viewing the Taliban government through different lenses.

For Pakistan, the concern is explicit. Islamabad maintains that militant organisations operating from Afghan territory continue to threaten its security. At the Moscow meeting, Pakistan reiterated that terrorism remained at the centre of Afghanistan's problems. The Taliban have consistently rejected accusations that Afghan territory is being used to support attacks against Pakistan.

However, the problem stretches beyond this dispute.

The Taliban's relationship with militant organisations remains a complicated feature of Afghanistan's post-2021 security environment. For ordinary Afghans, this means apprehension and dread: never knowing which group's conflict might spill into their towns or whose interests might override their hopes for peace. The Taliban have fought Islamic State-Khorasan (IS-K), and Russia has acknowledged their efforts. Yet international monitoring continues to report the presence of other militant organisations, including Al-Qaeda, Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan and Jaysh al-Adl.

This raises a fundamental question about the........

© The Nation