What did we achieve betting on Afghan Taliban?

Make no mistake. Terrorism is back in Pakistan. The Peshawar Police Lines terrorist attack has sent shockwaves among the public. People fear the return of the dark days of the war on terror when militant groups spread their terror across the country. It was the December 2014 Army Public massacre that brought the country together. A national census was achieved despite at the time Imran Khan was seeking the ouster of the then PML-N government. The national unity produced a national action plan to stem the tide of terrorism. Within months, full scale military operations were launched in the erstwhile tribal areas as well as intelligence based operations in urban centres. The decisive actions drove terrorists out of Pakistan, bringing a semblance of normalcy back to the country. But in the process, the country paid a huge price both in terms of men and material. Given how terrorists inflicted damage to the state of Pakistan, it was hoped that the country would never let these monsters challenge the writ of the state again.

But the situation began to change after the takeover of Kabul by the Afghan Taliban in August 2021. Many including those sitting at the helm of affairs portrayed the Afghan Taliban victory as a major success for Pakistan. The premise for their celebration was that the Afghan Taliban takeover meant that the 'hostile agencies' would no longer exploit the volatile Afghan situation to target Pakistan. The friendly Afghan government would evict groups such as the banned Tehreek-e-Pakistan (TTP) and its affiliates. When Pakistan did make a formal request for decisive action against the TTP, the Afghan Taliban instead asked Islamabad to seek a negotiated settlement with terrorists. The Afghan allied Haqqani Network played the role of mediator and Pakistan began talks with the TTP. The talks did make some progress at the start leading to the ceasefire by the terrorist outfits. In return for a truce, Pakistan released TTP members including some hardcore terrorists. Few were even given presidential pardon. Then in another bizarre decision taken by a few individuals with no proper consultation process, Pakistan allowed thousands of TTP members to...

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