As the U.S. continues to pursue peace talks in Afghanistan, the Pentagon is worried that the Afghan government and Pakistan, both U.S. allies, will distract from that goal as they continue to skirmish along their shared border.
Both Afghan and Pakistani governments accuse the other of supporting militant groups to engage in cross-border attacks, according to the Pentagon’s most recent report on Afghanistan.
“Afghan security forces likely will continue to clash with Pakistani forces along the border,” the report states. “This strains limited resources and heightens regional tensions.”
Clashes between the two countries have occurred with some regularity since at least 2007. Most of them occur near the rugged, remote border region near northwest Pakistan, an area that has also been ripe with militant activity for years. The casualties resulting from these clashes are usually minimal, but civilians have reportedly often been caught in the crossfire.
The most recently reported skirmish occurred between May 1 and 2, when 70 to 80 terrorists allegedly attacked Pakistani soldiers from Afghanistan. Pakistani forces allegedly shelled Afghan territory the next day, allegedly killing four Afghan civilians. While the incident nearly boiled over into further conflict, Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan and Afghan President Ashraf Ghani were able to “de-escalate the situation peacefully,” according to the Pentagon report.
Bill Roggio, editor of the Long War Journal and a senior fellow at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies, said one reason for the clashes is Pakistan’s desire to prevent a strong Afghan government.
“It’s a threat,” Roggio told the Washington Examiner. “They believe the Taliban is their ally there and an Afghan government that’s particularly friendly with India is a dire threat.”
As the U.S. continues to negotiate in Qatar with the Taliban, border skirmishes are just one of several impediments on the ground in Afghanistan. Afghan forces continue to struggle to maintain control of much of the country, particularly frontier territories. The government controls 141 districts, according to the Long War Journal, while the Taliban controls 63. The remaining 193 are considered “contested.”
Terrorist attacks also continue to pose a threat. The Taliban has engaged in several successful attacks in throughout the last year, some of which have even targeted the heavily fortified capital of Kabul. The Islamic State’s Khorasan province, while still small compared with other militant groups, has also seen some success in attacking the Afghan government and civilians.
The Afghan government itself remains weak and suffers from rampant corruption. Insider attacks from within the Afghan forces continue to prove a problem, with 25 reported between December 2018 and May 25, 2019. There have been some signs of improvement, however, as the recruitment and retention of Afghan forces “outpaced attrition for the first time in several reporting periods,” according to the report.
U.S. negotiators have said they hope to reach a peace deal with the Taliban before Sept. 1, though there are still disagreements over fundamental issues like the Taliban’s relationship with terrorist groups and the withdrawal of U.S. troops.
