Pakistan Army’s DANGEROUS plan after losing to Taliban; plotting civil war in Afghanistan, meets Taliban’s sworn enemy in…

Tensions between Pakistan and Afghanistan have escalated in recent weeks, sparking fears of a full-blown Pakistan-Taliban war, especially since Pakistan conducted a wave of airstrikes on the TTP terror group inside Afghanistan.

Pakistan-Taliban war: Amid rising tensions with Afghanistan’s ruling Taliban, Pakistan is allegedly plotting to trigger a civil war in Afghanistan, a fear which has escalated after ISI chief Lieutenant General Asim Malik recently made an impromptu trip to Tajikistan, where he met met Tajikistan President Emomali Rahmon, Taliban’s sworn enemy.

Pakistan plotting to corner Afghan Taliban

Defense experts have claimed that the ISI chief’s visit was aimed at establishing contact with anti-Taliban Afghan leaders living in Tajikistan,  who aspire to oust Taliban from Afghanistan. Islamabad is contacting anti-Taliban leaders across Iran, Tajikistan, Europe, as it attempts to corner the ruling Afghan Taliban by collaborating with the group’s enemies.

According to experts, the Pakistan’s security establishment is focused on supporting anti-Taliban factions in Tajikistan, especially the National Resistance Front (NRF) — an anti-Taliban resistance movement led by former Afghanistan Vice-President Amrullah Saleh, and Ahmad Massoud, who fled to Tajikistan shortly after the Taliban seized control of Panjshir on September 6, 2021.

Ahmad Massoud, the founder and leader of NRF, is the eldest son of Ahmad Shah Massoud, an anti-Soviet military leader and former defense minister of Afghanistan who was assassinated by al-Qaeda in 2001 during the previous Taliban rule. Notably, Pakistan had openly opposed Ahmad Massoud, but now seems willing to join hands with the “enemy”, as it attempts to weaken Taliban.

Islamabad plans to strengthen NRF

In a recent interview, senior Pakistani journalist Najam Sethi noted that one of key reasons behind the ISI chief’s Tajikistan visit was to establish contact with Tajik-origin NRF fighters, who are backed by Tajikistan. Sethi believes Islamabad plans to strengthen NRF via Tajikistan, so the group can launch attacks against Taliban.

Additionally, the Pakistan is planning to conduct more airstrikes on Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) militants in Afghanistan, in hopes of engaging Afghan Taliban on multiple fronts and force them to the negotiating table.

Analysts believe that the NRF wants the financial and weapons support from the Pakistan Army in order to fight Afghan Taliban and their Pakistani counterparts.

Taliban’s sworn enemy

Notably, the Tajikistan government has openly opposed Afghanistan’s Taliban rule since the group seized power when the US left country in 2021.

Tajikistan President Emomali Rahmon has vehemently opposed accepting the Taliban regime, and demanded that a new government must be formed in Kabul which represents all majority and minority groups and factions in the country, including the country’s thousands of Tajik-origin inhabitants.

Pakistan-Taliban war

Tensions between Pakistan and Afghanistan have escalated in recent weeks, sparking fears of a full-blown Pakistan-Taliban war, especially since Pakistan conducted a wave of airstrikes on the TTP terror group inside Afghanistan. The TTP responded by launching a series of attacks on the Pakistani army, killing several personnel, including a Major rank officer.

However, the Taliban’s Ministry of Defence argued that the strike also hit “Waziristani refugees,” disputing the claim that only militants were targeted. This escalation in violence has sparked tensions between Afghanistan and Pakistan, with the Taliban warning of retaliation.

Last week, the Pakistan-Taliban ‘war’, witnessed a severe escalation as Afghan Taliban fighters attacked the Pakistani Army in Kurram area near the Pakistan-Afghanistan border, killing at least one Pakistani armed forces personnel, and injuring at least nine.

Three Taliban fighters were also killed in retaliatory firing, the Pakistan Army, had said.