The daughter of the Afghan ambassador to Pakistan kidnapped. It is only the latest episode of a tension between Kabul and Islamabad that threatens to lead to a new civil war
The situation in Afghanistan is increasingly critical. Just think of three recent events. The first: Pakistan’s foreign ministry has announced the postponement of the peace conference for Afghanistan, which was due to take place over the next three days, until July 19. The second: in Doha, Qatar, the new session of talks between the government delegation and representatives of the Taliban has begun. The third: the daughter of the Afghan ambassador to Pakistan Najibullah Alikhil, Silsila Alikhil, she was “kidnapped for several hours and severely tortured by strangers on her way home” in Islamabad, as explained by the Afghan Foreign Ministry, which condemned the act.
After being released, the woman is receiving medical treatment in a hospital in Islamabad. The ministry expressed concern for the safety of diplomats, their families and staff members of the Afghan political and consular missions in Pakistan. The Foreign Ministry calls on the government of Pakistan to take the immediate actions necessary to ensure the full security of the Afghan embassy and consulates, as well as the immunity of the country’s diplomats and their families, in accordance with international treaties and conventions , the note states. “While the Afghan Ministry of Foreign Affairs is following up the matter with the Pakistani Ministry of Foreign Affairs, we urge the Pakistani government to identify and prosecute the perpetrators as soon as possible,” the statement concluded.
As theNova Agency, the episode comes at a time of tension between Kabul and Islamabad. Islamabad diplomacy denied the allegations made by the Afghan vice president, Amrullah Saleh, according to which the Pakistani air force has in recent days provided air support to the Taliban insurgents who had occupied the Spin Boldak border crossing.
Meanwhile, 90 percent of the American forces have now left Afghanistan. And there are 223 districts of the country controlled by the Taliban out of a total of 407. This latest figure is from July 13: it is to be expected that the count has increased on the side of the insurgents, not on that of the government, who do not seem able to contain the advance of the jihadist group founded by Mullah Omar. Indeed, the Afghan military flee, seeking shelter even beyond the border, while the Taliban now control the crossing points with Iran, Pakistan, Turkmenistan and Tajikistan.
This regional dimension of the crisis – albeit not too unexpected, as well as the Taliban advance on the other hand – is an interesting element because it multiplies the chaos in progress. In recent days, for example, news has circulated about the threat from Pakistan: Islamabad has issued a warning that it could hit Afghan units if they try to retake Spin Boldak, on the border (captured on July 14).
In the last few hours there have been successful Chakhansur operations along the Pakistani border: the best forces of the Afghan army (such as the Maiwand, trained so far by the Westerners) have wrested important parts of territory from the Taliban. The insurgents’ plan was clear: the advance designed to strengthen as much as possible before a possible new (and more serious) negotiation session. Territorial control is a central aspect, so every reconquest is important, as is every advance.
“Faced with the progress of the Taliban”, observed analyst Claudio Bertolotti on ISPI, “many of the Afghan defenses are yielding, certainly not all of them, but in sufficient numbers to undermine an increasingly weak and close to collapse state. For this reason, many military units have been given the order to converge on the provincial capitals, in order to better defend them ”.
According to the expert, in the case that now reigns supreme in the country, “it is possible to foresee a sudden fragmentation of the Afghan security forces with the passage of its members between the ranks of private militias, on the one hand, and the Taliban, on the other. , on the basis of ethnicity “. With the risk of a new civil war that “could bring Afghanistan back to a situation very similar to that of 1989-1996, but much more violent”.