Question:
Al-Arabiya Net reported on 13/08/2024: "On Tuesday, the Taliban government accused Pakistani forces of killing three civilians—a woman and two children—during clashes on the border between the two countries... A border official from the Pakistani side in Torkham stated that three Pakistani soldiers were wounded in the clash..." Prior to this, Sky News Arabia reported on 13/07/2024: "The International Monetary Fund (IMF) signed an agreement with the Pakistani government on Friday to establish a $7 billion aid program over three years." What lies behind these clashes, given that similar skirmishes have occurred before? Is there a link between the aid from the US-controlled IMF and preoccupying Pakistan with a war against Afghanistan—away from India—so it can focus on confronting China to fulfill American desires to harass China? Or are there other reasons?
Answer: To answer the above questions, we review the following points:
1- In a Q&A dated 28 January 2023 regarding the border established by British colonialism between Pakistan and Afghanistan, we stated the following: "In 1893, an agreement was signed between the then British Foreign Secretary Sir Mortimer Durand and the Shah of Afghanistan, Emir Abdur Rahman Khan, drawing a land border known as the (Durand Line). Stretching 2,640 kilometers between Afghanistan and Pakistan, it runs from the northeast to the southwest. This border was adopted as the official boundary for Pakistan and Afghanistan, dividing the Pashtun tribes into two parts on either side of the line. It is noteworthy that the border region is inhabited by Muslims, the majority of whom are Pashtuns, who are the most populous ethnic group in Afghanistan, making up about 40% of the population; all Afghan rulers for two centuries have come from them. Pashtuns are also the second-largest majority in Pakistan after the Punjabis. In any case, Afghanistan has refused to recognize this line, especially since Britain at that time did not take into account the demographic, ethnic, and tribal structure of the region in the Durand Line, which was artificially drawn to serve British colonial interests on 12 November 1893. The British, like many before them, struggled to control the border areas... Britain suffered a crushing military defeat in Afghanistan during its aggression between 1839 and 1842. It launched another aggression in 1878 but withdrew after two years, though it gained political influence through Afghan rulers who signed the Treaty of Gandamak in 1879, under which Afghanistan lost vast territories to British colonialism, which then ruled the Islamic Indian subcontinent... When the Taliban movement became the ruler in Kabul after the US withdrawal in August 2021 under the Doha Agreement, it began to reject Pakistan's border measures more vocally, and border provocations became the norm between the two sides along the actual border line. This border would heat up at times with severe restrictions on Afghan refugees and Pashtun families who previously moved easily across the border without interference, reaching a boiling point accompanied by clashes causing casualties..." (End quote).
2- This border (the Durand Line) caused the conflict between the two countries to fade during the difficult times Afghanistan faced after major powers converged on it, from the Soviet Union in 1979 to the American occupation in 2001. However, today it has resurfaced according to the requirements of American policy after its humiliating withdrawal from Afghanistan in 2021. It must be known that those borders were porous during the Soviet occupation of Afghanistan, which facilitated the crossing of Mujahideen receiving training in Pakistan to fight the Soviets in Afghanistan. That border fluidity was an extension of a demographic reality imposing itself on Pashtun families on both sides, and secondly, it aligned with American policy opposing the Soviet presence in Afghanistan. However, after the American occupation of Afghanistan, American policy changed, and it began demanding that Pakistan tighten the borders and prevent Mujahideen opposed to its occupation of Afghanistan from crossing. Consequently, the Pakistani army waged a fierce war in those border areas within Pakistan.
3- In May 2018, Pakistan annexed the tribal border areas adjacent to Afghanistan into the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, ending a period of ambiguity where those areas were not subject to Pakistani laws or the authority of the police and judiciary. While Pakistan considers the border issue with Afghanistan resolved (as recently confirmed by Pakistan's interim Prime Minister Anwaar-ul-Haq Kakar in an interview with the Afghan Tolo News network, stating: "The Durand Line is the official international border between Pakistan and Afghanistan; the border issue with Afghanistan for us and all countries of the world is settled." Al-Jazeera Net, 14/03/2024), all Afghan governments throughout history, regardless of their political and intellectual affiliations, have continued to refuse recognition of the Durand Line as an official international border. The latest statement in this regard, according to the same source, came from Mullah Noorullah Noori, the Minister of Borders and Tribal Affairs in the Taliban government, who said: "Afghanistan has no official border with Pakistan." The dispute between the two countries has intensified along that border, which exceeds 2,600 kilometers. As we mentioned in the previous Q&A on 28/01/2023: "Then Pakistan increased the pressure and imposed entry visas on Afghans for the first time in history. This tension was further heightened by Pakistan erecting a 3-meter-high border fence, spending hundreds of millions of dollars to construct hundreds of kilometers of it, all under the pretext of controlling the movement of goods and people and protecting against 'terrorists.' Thus, the fence became one of the causes of tension and clashes in the border region. Consequently, the Taliban government prevented Pakistani forces from continuing its installation along the 2,700 km border after about 90% of it had been completed. Ashraf Ghani’s government had agreed to its installation before its fall. The Taliban government confronted Pakistani forces whenever the latter tried to complete the fence, leading to clashes in various border areas resulting in deaths and injuries on both sides... Thus, matters became strained, especially when Pakistan accused the ruling Taliban movement of not preventing the Pakistani Taliban (TTP) from attacking the Pakistani army. Pakistan then bombed sites inside Afghanistan, claiming they belonged to TTP fighters..." (End quote).
4- Thus, skirmishes and clashes between the Pakistani army and Taliban forces have become a new reality in the relations between the two countries. these skirmishes intensify due to the border issue and attacks between the "Pakistani Taliban" and the Pakistani army. "Last year saw the number of casualties rise to its highest level in six years, with more than 1,500 people killed, including civilians, security personnel, and militants, according to the Islamabad-based Center for Research and Security Studies. Al-Jazeera Net, 17/07/2024." Along with accusations by the Pakistani army against Afghanistan for harboring the Pakistani Taliban, Islamabad is imposing further restrictions on Afghanistan: "Qari Yusuf Ahmadi, spokesperson for the Taliban committee for assisting returnees and resettling them in their original areas, said: 'The two neighboring countries—Pakistan and Iran—have forcibly deported more than 400,000 refugees since the beginning of 2024, and Pakistan was responsible for 75 percent of the deportations.' Al-Hurra, 11/06/2024."
5- From all this, it is clear that the government of Pakistan, which is loyal to America, is harassing and provoking the Taliban movement in Afghanistan. It prevents Afghans from moving freely across the border, requiring visas for them to visit relatives across the line. it establishes the border fence as a fait accompli, and even moves the border line deeper into Afghanistan. It tightens the grip on Afghan refugees, who number over two million—600,000 of whom fled during the US withdrawal in 2021 (Al-Hurra, 01/11/2023)—and deports them en masse from Pakistan. In 2022, it facilitated the passage of American aircraft and the execution of a bombing inside Afghanistan that killed Al-Qaeda leader Ayman al-Zawahiri. Furthermore, Pakistani intelligence carries out assassinations in Afghan border cities targeting prominent figures in the Pakistani Taliban organization.
6- All these actions taken by Pakistan fall within the framework of American policy aimed at pressuring the Taliban movement in Afghanistan until it is fully subjugated. They also fall within Washington's desire to push the Pakistani army into civil war and conflict with Afghanistan to facilitate India's alignment with America against China. Moreover, they fall within America's attempt to prevent China from exploiting mineral resources in Afghanistan. The apparent hostility over more than two decades between America and the Taliban movement in Afghanistan had raised China's hopes—whose industries need all types of raw materials—to exploit Afghanistan after the US withdrawal in 2021. The conflict between Pakistan and Afghanistan over the border issue hinders China's dreams, as China has spent billions on the economic corridor in Pakistan.
This is the general framework of Pakistani policy toward Afghanistan, from which it is clear that America is the main driver of the conflict between them. This general framework includes stirring hostility, armed border disputes, increasing tension in all fields, and Pakistani airstrikes inside Afghanistan. "The Afghan Defense Minister announced that Pakistani Air Force fighters attacked densely populated areas in the provinces of 'Khost' and 'Paktika' on the border with Pakistan, killing innocent children and women, according to his claim. The Pakistani army or government did not comment on the matter. The strikes follow the killing of 6 Pakistani soldiers in two suicide attacks against a military checkpoint in the Pakistan-Afghanistan border areas. The airstrikes came after 7 military personnel were killed Saturday in an attack in northwest Pakistan in North Waziristan district near the border with Afghanistan. Asharq Al-Awsat, 18/03/2024."
7- This strained relationship between the two countries since 2021 is heading toward escalation because its (American) causes are ongoing and are fixed toward escalation, whether Pakistan takes loans from the IMF or not. While the official terms of the IMF and loan agreements include issues of local currency, exchange rates, trade, energy, and taxes, and do not "officially" include Pakistan's relations with Afghanistan, it cannot be ruled out that malicious American policy dangles these promised loans as bait for agents in the Pakistani government to intensify their pursuit of its interests, including increasing tension with Afghanistan. In the summer of 2023, Pakistan obtained a $3 billion loan from the US-dominated IMF and is promised more today. "The International Monetary Fund signed an agreement with the Pakistani government on Friday to establish a $7 billion aid program over three years. Sky News Arabia, 13/07/2024." This further incentivizes its drive to fulfill American desires.
8- For all these reasons, the statements of the current Pakistani government, loyal to America, show an elevated level of tension between the two countries. This was clear in the incident where Pakistani soldiers were killed in mid-July 2024:
a- "Pakistan's Defense Minister told the BBC that Pakistan will continue to launch attacks against Afghanistan as part of a new military operation aimed at combating terrorism... BBC English, 02/07/2024." According to the same source, "the Taliban movement called the statement 'irresponsible,' warning Pakistan that cross-border attacks would have 'consequences'."
b- Summoning the ambassador: "The Pakistani Foreign Ministry summoned the deputy head of the mission of the Taliban-led Afghan government on Wednesday, urging the movement to take action against armed groups based in Afghanistan that Islamabad says launched an attack on a military base this week. Al-Jazeera Net, 17/07/2024."
c- "Pakistan demanded the Afghan government take 'immediate and effective' action against the perpetrators of the attack that claimed the lives of 8 soldiers on Tuesday, in clashes with 'terrorists' in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province... The statement noted that the attack was carried out by the 'Hafiz Gul Bahadur' group affiliated with the Pakistani Taliban based in Afghanistan and claimed the lives of 8 soldiers. Anadolu Agency, 17/07/2024."
d- Al-Arabiya Net published on 13/08/2024: "On Tuesday, the Taliban government accused Pakistani forces of killing three civilians—a woman and two children—during clashes on the border between the two countries... A border official from the Pakistani side in Torkham stated that three Pakistani soldiers were wounded in the clash."
9- In conclusion: The border disputes and tension over the issue of Afghan refugees in Pakistan, as well as the continuous stream of accusations by Pakistan against the Afghan government for harboring fighters from the Pakistani Taliban and that attacks originate from Afghanistan—all this raises the level of tension between the two sides and creates reasons for border skirmishes, clashes, and Pakistani shelling inside the cities and rural areas of the border regions in Afghanistan. It is likely that this trend has taken a steady path toward increase since 2021 when the Biden administration withdrew from Afghanistan, and the reasons for this tension are primarily American, as we explained... America pushes for it and its increase to achieve its goals in the region and with China. Although IMF conditions do not explicitly include this, America considers the loans as its carrot extended to its agents in Pakistan to achieve more tension, conflict, and skirmishes between Pakistan and Afghanistan. Amidst the heated American competition between Democrats and Republicans in the presidential elections and Republican candidate Trump's accusation of the Biden Democratic administration of executing a humiliating withdrawal in 2021 from Afghanistan, the Biden administration may push Pakistan into strong battles with the Taliban movement in Afghanistan to tell Americans that it has delegated Pakistan on its behalf in the war against the Taliban... For all these reasons, the statements of American agents in Pakistan are explicit in escalation, threats, and intimidation. That is, intermittent skirmishes may develop into cross-border battles, but it is unlikely to develop into a full-scale war, especially since the stronger party—Pakistan—has no territorial claims from Afghanistan...
10- This is the state of Muslims in the absence of the laws of Islam, which require tearing down the borders between Muslims and unifying their lands under the shade of a single Khalifah. This situation will continue as long as the Ummah, and especially the people of power (Ahl al-Quwwah) within it, do not show anger for their Lord and their Ummah and do not rise to overthrow these agent rulers, who never see a sunset without conspiring against their Ummah, nor a sunrise without executing those conspiracies to please the enemies of Allah, America and others... The affairs of the Muslims will only be rectified by that which rectified its beginning: ruling by what Allah has revealed in a Khilafah (Caliphate) upon the method of Prophethood that strikes fear into the kuffar behind them:
فَإِمَّا تَثْقَفَنَّهُمْ فِي الْحَرْبِ فَشَرِّدْ بِهِمْ مَنْ خَلْفَهُمْ لَعَلَّهُمْ يَذَّكَّرُونَ
"So if you gain mastery over them in war, disperse by them those who are behind them that they might take lesson." (Surah Al-Anfal 8:57)
A Khilafah whose constitution is Islam from the Book of Allah and the Sunnah of His Messenger and what they guided to of the consensus of the Sahaba and legal analogy (Qiyas), and not a man-made constitution. Whether it was the 1964 constitution during the era of Mohammed Zahir Shah of Afghanistan, whose rule ended in 1973—which the Taliban announced they would adopt in a statement by the Minister of Justice on 28/09/2021 (Al-Jazeera and Anadolu, 28/09/2021)—or any of the man-made constitutions in effect in other Muslim countries, all of this is contrary to what Allah has commanded:
وَأَنِ احْكُمْ بَيْنَهُمْ بِمَا أَنْزَلَ اللهُ وَلَا تَتَّبِعْ أَهْوَاءَهُمْ وَاحْذَرْهُمْ أَنْ يَفْتِنُوكَ عَنْ بَعْضِ مَا أَنْزَلَ اللهُ إِلَيْكَ فَإِنْ تَوَلَّوْا فَاعْلَمْ أَنَّمَا يُرِيدُ اللهُ أَنْ يُصِيبَهُمْ بِبَعْضِ ذُنُوبِهِمْ
"And judge between them by what Allah has revealed and do not follow their inclinations and beware of them, lest they tempt you away from some of what Allah has revealed to you. And if they turn away - then know that Allah intends only to afflict them for some of their sins." (Surah Al-Ma'idah 5:49)
It is high time for Afghanistan and Pakistan to realize that they are two Muslim countries, and fighting between them is forbidden (haram)... It is high time for them to deepen the bonds of Islamic brotherhood between them, cut any ties with the colonial kuffar—headed by America—and respond to the support of Hizb ut-Tahrir working to establish the Khilafah. Then the Muslims will be honored and the kuffar will be humiliated.
وَيَوْمَئِذٍ يَفْرَحُ الْمُؤْمِنُونَ * بِنَصْرِ اللهِ يَنْصُرُ مَنْ يَشَاءُ وَهُوَ الْعَزِيزُ الرَّحِيمُ
"And on that day the believers will rejoice. In the victory of Allah. He gives victory to whom He wills, and He is the Exalted in Might, the Merciful." (Surah Ar-Rum 30:4-5)
22nd of Safar 1446 AH 27/08/2024 CE