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Recent abduction of Pakistan's ambassador to Kabul, Mr. Tariq Azizuddin has raised questions in the international community regarding the security of officials in Afghanistan. This attack might be silent in nature but depicts well that how these criminals mastermind their activities, writes Ambreen Arif
Since the war on terror has taken a start, no part of Afghanistan can be considered immune from violence now. And the potential exists throughout the country for hostile acts, either targeted or random, against all foreign nationals at any time. Remnants of the former Taliban regime and the terrorist al-Qaeda network create a living threat to kidnap and assassinate U.S. citizens, other foreign nationals and Non-Governmental Organization (NGO) workers throughout the country. And unfortunately Afghan authorities have a limited ability to maintain order and ensure the security of citizens and visitors.
Travel in all areas of Afghanistan, including the capital, Kabul, is unsafe due to military operations, landmines, banditry, armed rivalry among political and tribal groups, and the possibility of terrorist attacks, including attacks using vehicular or other improvised explosive dev-ices (IEDs). However, the security environment rem-ains volatile and unpredictable.
Under the same insecure environment, Pakistani agencies continue to hunt for Pakistan’s ambassador to Kabul who disappeared four days ago, in a tribal region near the Afghan border. And surprisingly, no group has neither claimed the responsibility of his abduction for abducting him nor has made any demand to the Government.
However, in the past few days the Pakistani military has also succeeded in arresting Taliban commander Mansoor Dadullah from the southern province of Baluchistan bordering Afghanistan. Initially it was expected that the Taliban gunmen had seized Tariq Azizuddin, Pakistani Ambassador to Afghanistan, for their demand of Dadullah’s release. But very soon after the abduction of the ambassador, the Taliban have clearly denied any involvement in this case.
The envoy was travelling with his driver and security guard to the Afghan capital Kabul from Pakistan's northwestern city of Peshawar when he disappeared in the Khyber tribal region. According to the Foreign office it was a routine practice of officials to travel to Afghanistan by road. Similarly Mr. Azizuddin was due to change cars at the frontier crossing but unfortunately, he never reached the border.
The historic Khyber Pass is the gateway on the main road to landlocked Afghanistan from northwestern Pakistan. Khyber is notorious for smugglers and bandits, but unlike other parts of the tribal belt on the Afghan border has been relatively free of violence linked to al-Qaeda and the Taliban, though militant activity has picked up in adjoining regions. Regarding the search operation for the abducted envoy, the agency official claim not having a house-to-house search operation, instead the administration was in touch with local clerics, tribal elders, and ‘notorious gangsters’ to find a clue about the ambassador’s whereabouts.
Due to the deteriorating security conditions, Pakistan has deployed more than 100,000 soldiers in the tribal region to combat Taliban and al-Qaeda gunmen since 2003. The government of Pakistan has also initiated a long awaited military operation in these respective lawless frontier regions just to eradicate the menace of extremism and terrorism from the state. But somehow, the efforts appear to be endless as these militants have strong support of the residents of these frontier regions.
This abduction creates a serious concern to the Pakistani authorities as well as the U.S. government. Though NATO, a key component of the international community’s security is heavily engaged in Afghanistan, assisting the Afghan authorities in providing security and stability, still a lot has to be done for reconstruction and effective governance. The Alliance’s aim is to help establish the conditions in which Afghanistan can enjoy – after decades of conflict, destruction and poverty – a representative government and self-sustaining peace and security. However, Pakistani militia aims to fight its war on terror single-handedly, which makes the situation a bit more critical and serious as the time passes by.
This abduction also leads to a thought of increase in forces in Afghanistan to ensure security of foreign officials, but after observing the never-ending battle with the remnants of Taliban the concern increases. More than 70 attacks were reported in Kabul alone between April and December 2007. These included repeated incidents at or near Kabul International Airport, suicide bombings, persistent rocket attacks on vehicle convoys, and IEDs on many of the major roadways. These incidents resulted in many deaths and injuries of U.S. and coalition personnel and local civilians.
U.S. intelligence officials have already established a fact that al-Qaeda has formed a safe haven in Pakistan's tribal regions. And since being the most favorite ally of the U.S. in the war on terror, now Pakistan has to cleanup the roots of Taliban and al-Qaeda from its boundaries. Not only for the sake of its international repute but also for the sake of internal security conditions.
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