The Pakistan's Terror War approach is dangerous | Views

The refusal to see the roots of the rebels, the use of terrorism labels and the redemptive neighbors do not gain strategies.

On March 11, fighters from the Belokistan Liberation Army (BLA) abducted a Jaffar Express train traveling from Queta to Peshawar. After a 36-hour opposition, the Pakistani security forces were able to kill operational operators and release hundreds of hostages. According to the government, at least eight civilians have lost their lives during the operation.

Pakistani officials They are quickly guilty Afghanistan and India about what they called “terrorist incident”. This is the last example of how the Pakistani authorities are increasingly divert responsibility and frame the Pakistan's relationship with Afghanistan in the language of “war against terror.”

Almost three months before the train abduction, Pakistani fighters bombed Host and Pactics provinces in Afghanistan, killing at least 46 people, including women and children. Many victims were displaced people from the Pakistan region Hiber Pahtunva.

Pakistan justifies his violation of Afghan sovereignty and international law, claiming that he is aimed at fighters of Techrek-E-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) hiding in Afghanistan territory. In the last two years, Islamabad has accused Kabul of sheltering “terrorists” who have carried out attacks on Pakistani territory.

This is the same logic that the United States used to commit air raids, abductions, targeted killings, etc. Throughout the Muslim world during the so -called “war against terror.” In this way, the United States has stepped over all the conventions that the world approved, confirming the state sovereignty, the distinction between civilians and fighters, a proportional reaction and the rights of the prisoners of war.

The US Army and Intelligence see civilians as active fighters or “secured damage” that were inevitable when it was pursued a “high value goal”. Whole countries and the civil population paid the price for “terrorist” strikes conducted by armed groups – and they still do it. This is because the US may have withdrawn from Afghanistan and Iraq, but the legacy of its practices remains and is easily perceived by governments in the region. The Pakistan government is one of them.

During the 20-year-old American occupation in Afghanistan, Pakistan refused to see the Afghan Taliban as “terrorists” and continued to house and support the group. Still, today, the Pakistani authorities refer to TTP and BL as “terrorist” groups and the Afghan Taliban government as sponsors of “terrorism”.

They refuse to see these local riots as politically motivated rational actors who could be reasoned or whose complaints should be heard.

How Pakistan chooses to deal with these groups is an internal issue, but there are several lessons from the recent American adventure that needs to be eavesdropped.

The United States has threw a broad definition of “terrorism”, in which Muslims at home and abroad have become suspicious. In Afghanistan, he hit his enemy al -Qaeda with the Taliban and sometimes Afghan civilians.

The prisons and torture of suspected members of the Taliban only nourish the flames of the Taliban fighters and led to escalation in violence. The indiscriminate strikes of drones on civil communities in Afghanistan and Pakistan not only violate sovereignty, but also encourage young men to join the Afghan Taliban and TTP.

Several attempts by the Taliban to negotiate with the United States did not give fruit until 2021, when, exhausted by two -sided occupation and war, Washington decided to withdraw, mainly accepting defeat.

It is easy to reject movements as “terrorist” and to refuse to see some path of reconciliation. But as the American example shows, this approach does not end well.

Instead of trying to drag the United States in another war on Terror – like US media Drop -out site The Pakistani authorities reported to learn from US experience. They cannot present themselves as ignorance for groups such as TTP and BLA; They deal with their own citizens who have clear complaints.

The Pakistani government must hear the demands of these groups and find a way to negotiate with them. He must recognize the suffering of the civilian population in the regions where BLA and TTP operate. He must also put an end to the breach of Afghanistan sovereignty and the purchase of the Taliban government for their own failures of security under the guise of a “war against terror.”

If the Pakistani military decides not to learn from the recent history and follow in the footsteps of the United States, it is very likely to meet its fate.

The anger expressed in this article are the author's own and do not necessarily reflect Al Jazee's editorial position.