• Pakistan ‘hopeful but realistic’ as over 1,000 scholars seek ‘necessary measures’ to discourage cross-border movement of fighters
• FO says Afghan Taliban have failed to comply with past commitments, reiterates demand for written assurances
ISLAMABAD: Amid concerns by Pakistan regarding the use of Afghan soil by militants to launch attacks inside the country, over 1,000 Afghan clerics recently passed a resolution apparently aimed at discouraging the flow of militancy from its territory to neighbouring states.
The resolution, adopted by leading Afghan clerics, pledges that their country’s soil will not be used against other countries.
In case of violations, the “Islamic Emirate has the right to take necessary measures against them”, it said, noting that Taliban supreme leader Hibatullah Akhundzada had not permitted any Afghan national “to travel abroad for military activity, so if anyone violates this… The Islamic Emirate must take necessary measures to prevent such people”.
The resolution, though welcomed by Pakistan, elicited only cautious optimism, given the Taliban’s track record on militant groups. Terming it a “positive development”, the Foreign Office reiterated its demand for written assurances from the interim Afghan government that its soil would not be used against Pakistan.
The document, described as a significant development by experts in Pakistan and Afghanistan, comes from independent clerics, without any formal endorsement from the Taliban government, nor does it explicitly name Pakistan.
However, it does say that whoever would “conduct military operations beyond Afghanistan’s borders would be considered a rebel against the state”. This would also be considered “as a violation of the emir’s orders” and would be a punishable offence, the resolution said.
But it remains unclear who would enforce such a punishment, as the group of religious scholars who have issued it have no legally binding authority.
However, the timing of the declaration seems significant, coming at a time when Islamabad is asking Kabul to rein in militants, particularly the banned Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), who it blames for perpetrating terror attacks in the country.
Pakistan has asked Kabul to issue a decree — in the name of supreme leader Hibatullah Akhundzada — to stop such incursions; a demand that was reiterated during a series of negotiations in Qatar, Turkey and Saudi Arabia over the past few months.
However, according to officials privy to the meetings, the Taliban had asked Pakistan to approach their own scholars for such an edict.
