ISLAMABAD — Recent battlefield successes point to renewed willingness by the United States to work with Pakistan on curbing militancy, but a promise Islamabad made in return — to bring insurgents to the negotiating table — looks a distant prospect. Closer ties between Afghanistan, Pakistan and the United States are key to defeating the Taliban and Al-Qaeda holed up on the Afghan-Pakistan border, especially as most foreign troops withdraw from Afghanistan by the end of the month.
The three nations are still suspicious of each other, but in the past week, cooperation brought some success.
A former top Pakistani Taliban commander, arrested by US forces in Afghanistan last year, was repatriated to Pakistan. Two Al-Qaeda leaders were reportedly killed in Pakistan.
The Pakistani Taliban, meanwhile, said the US had stepped up attacks on their hideouts in Afghanistan with missile-firing drones, disrupting their attacks in Pakistan. Afghanistan and Pakistan accuse each other of harboring insurgents and using them as proxy forces. The Pakistani and Afghan Taliban are allied but separate — both are trying to overthrow their government and establish an Islamic state.
In a change of tone following a visit to the United States last month by Pakistani army chief General Raheel Sharif, Pakistan now says it will drag the Afghan Taliban into talks if the United States helps defeat the Pakistani Taliban, said a Pakistani official privy to discussions with Washington.
“For now, the US is acting on the Pakistani promise that if the Pakistan army's enemies are eliminated, Pakistan will help reconcile the Afghan Taliban,” he said. “The spike in attacks against Al-Qaeda does mean closer US-Pakistan tactics. But it's tactical moves, not a deeper strategic shift ... Overall trust is still low.” — Reuters
