Border Clash Between Afghanistan & Pakistan: Afghanistan Protecting TTP

[Battlion25]

On a side note: please keep the discussion civil & decent. We don't want Afghans suffering & dying. We just do not want to see their land used to launch attacks on us.

That individual you were referring to has no filter.. His also been bashing Indian muslims and Bangladesh on absolute irrelevant and unstoppable fashion mods should limit stuff like that..

But aside from that I agree with you.. This is nothing really more than minor in the ground scale of things.. Our interest is continued border security and flow of connectivity including goods and trade.. There is no room for histrionics by some less unfortuante intellectually posters..

The place is becoming a cesspool for empty chest beaters and mourners out of nothing aka thin air

 

[Rafi]

We should have two pronged strategy
1- Raise economic and human cost on them by closing border
2- Reign hell on them from skIes if they try to attack or soldiers

We need to utilize this time and leverage before they find other players to assist. Right now no one else is even bothering with them

A border closure of even a day or 2, will bring them to their knees, inflation will cut their balls off, no need for kinetic weapons.

 

[waz]

Wait I thought the two soldiers were shaheed in Baluchistan?
If two have passed away from TTP firing them this is very serious.

 

[Battlion25]

....

 

[Chak Bamu]

Question is can we make them budge without raising cost of war on them. No one wants to see anyone suffer but how else will you make religious bigots budge? We have all seen they have an endless supply of afghan fodder if it comes to a conflict. Short of giving them a crushing defeat or raising cost of their agression we have no other option. One might say i am being callous by campaign For restricting food aid to afghans but then again can we afford to watch our people and soldiers die senseless death everyday knowing we had an option we didnt use? Right now Pakistan is leading policy of Afghans we can force a decision on them.

Thank you for a reasoned reply.

Pakistan has to balance cost to Afghan civilians against risks of a conflagration on this side. Perceptions are important & Pakistan can not reverse course after OIC meeting. Pakistan must not appear callous while addressing the support Taliban have been providing to TTP. I think punitive strikes are a better option at this stage. Border closure for a day or two could perhaps be considered to send a pointed message to keep things from heating up too much. Pakistan must insist on concrete steps by Taliban govt with a threat of ratcheting up the heat. We must make it an incremental process otherwise we could look callous & reckless.

Taliban also have a perception & image problem for Afghan population. They must be perceived as protectors of Afghan land & population; otherwise they would lose respect & relevance. This is what is forcing them to react. But it is not our problem. We must handle the situation so that we do not let TTP militants get away with murder. That is why a targeted approach would be much better. I am sure Pakistan has an informant network & that it needs to prove its worth at this time. Shelling civilians when TTP militants use civilian population as human shields is a poor look & does provoke a response. Therefore it is important to have Intelligence-based Operations (IBOs) to deal with TTP. Civilians need not suffer in this & Taliban could be incentivized to look the other way when we kill TTP militants in Afghanistan without any civilian casualties.

 

[imadul]

https://twitter.com/i/web/status/1474400237280239617

A TTP militant martyred two jawans of Pakistan Army. Pakistan Army targeted his location & Afghan Taliban attack Pakistan Army for doing so. Afghan Taliban need to decide what sort of relations they want to have with Pakistan. Supporting TTP shows what they want. If border were to be shutdown for a day or two, Taliban would come crawling with an apology. But they would not desist from supporting TTP. Its time Pakistan took the issue of TTP seriously & not just demand action, but actually target TTP militants in their hideouts in Afghanistan. Taliban must be forced to choose between either enmity with Pakistan or ejecting TTP completely from their territory. There can be no two ways about it.

I say the above knowing full well the cost to the average Afghan, but I do not wish for another APS-like incident. If Pakistan does not address this with sufficient force, we may be looking at another long war. Its time to get really tough with the Afghan Taliban.

You are so wrong. PM believes in Talks only.

 

[FuturePAF]

It was reported that he said that Taliban government wishes for good relations with neighbors, but if someone launches an attack, they would not stay quiet.

The TTP launched the attack, the PA just responded. This has to be impressed upon the Talib leadership. If they can’t control their border, they can’t expect the PA not to respond. Closing the border for a day or two or three maybe one way, but the PA also needs the means to retaliate that is quick, relatively quiet and precise. The PA needs to acquire relatively affordable Loitering munitions that can be launched by a single solider. Enough to precisely take out an attacker. The polish loitering munition “Warmate” seems to be about the right size (range is probably around 100-125 km Max in ideal conditions), but we should also put out a request from domestic producers to see if they can come up with a design we can build in house. data can be relayed via a second higher altitude drone, so strikes can be carried out beyond the line of sight. If the Talibs know the PA can just engage miscreants on the border or within their territory in this quiet way, they maybe less likely to har

Video feed from the other drone overhead could also show the TTP attackers were the ones that are attacking Pakistani posts, so Pakistan acted in a measure way in self defense, as well as to convey that Pakistan is able to deal with threats of the Talibs are not able to do so themselves.

The PA should also do some snap and grabs, especially if the TTP leaders hold Pakistani citizenship. Put them on trial and punish them if proven guilty. If they are to be executed let the families of their victims (especially the APS families) be allowed to see, if they want, so they can have some closure as they do here in the states.

BTW, how wide is the area around the border that the PA control? The PA may need a zone, on our own side, that is a no go zone for civilians so that any unknown person caught within the zone is assumed hostile. A fence may need to be put up a few hundred meters within our own side and unmanned gun turrets placed to allow troops to engage attackers while staying protected.

 

[Imran Khan]

ISI will never learn

 

[Dalit]

TTP has always been an Indian asset. We must at all cost decapitate this Indian monster for once and for all. India should never get another chance of supporting its terrorist TTP friends.

 

[Chak Bamu]

You are so wrong. PM believes in Talks only.

I am no supporter of IK. He could say or try to do what he likes, but he is quite irrelevant. He does not handle Pakistan's Afghan policy. I hope that those who do think a bit more before they act.

I think that helping replace ineffective Afghan govt with Taliban was a mistake and that we are seeing its after-effects. EIA is going to turn out to be a mean operator. We must act while they are weak. If we lose time, we would rue the inaction & indecision.

 

[MisterSyed]

Pretty sure Afghanistan will turn to Iran if we close borders, the best thing would be to Have a Hand in Talibans Government and we know who are expert in these areas. We can keep them at Knees if we know their Weaknesses. Cut the Aid, But do the Trade.

 

[imadul]

We have a double pacifist leadership, PM and CoAS.
PM perpetually repeats that he believes in talks. This way you have shown your cards that we wont go to war and any enemy takes that into equation.
Then there is a CoAS, during his time Pakistan has been attacked from all sides, LoC, IB by India, constantly from TTP from afg side both pre and post Taliban, and even from Iranian side.
Lack of credibility and indecisiveness making even rag tag murderous TTP a feared force.
Talk with TLP, talk with TTP. A state easily blackmailed shows there are deep institutional, political, financial, and governance weaknesses.

 

[ziaulislam]

 

[Chak Bamu]

The TTP launched the attack, the PA just responded. This has to be impressed upon the Talib leadership. If they can’t control their border, they can’t expect the PA not to respond. Closing the border for a day or two or three maybe one way, but the PA also needs the means to retaliate that is quick, relatively quiet and precise. The PA needs to acquire relatively affordable Loitering munitions that can be launched by a single solider. Enough to precisely take out an attacker. The polish loitering munition “Warmate” seems to be about the right size. Video feed from another drone overhead could also show the TTP attackers were the ones that are attacking Pakistani posts, so Pakistan acted in a measure way in self defense.

Thank you. This is the sort of post that adds value to the discussion.

It is a difficult border & it may be difficult to use loitering munitions along the length of it. But I think this is doable in select areas. After a couple of hits the enemy would change their tactics. The biggest problem is trouble-makers using civilian population as human shields. That would be a serious challenge that would remain. That is why IBOs are important. Pakistan must recruit informants (& also take care that they don't use PA to settle personal vendettas).

Technology may have a flip side - escalation of cost while the enemy remains low-tech.

 

[imadul]

I am no supporter of IK. He could say or try to do what he likes, but he is quite irrelevant. He does not handle Pakistan's Afghan policy. I hope that those who do think a bit more before they act.

I think that helping replace ineffective Afghan govt with Taliban was a mistake and that we are seeing its after-effects. EIA is going to turn out to be a mean operator. We must act while they are weak. If we lose time, we would rue the inaction & indecision.

If PM is irrelevant, then it is even more bigger problem, a hemorrhage in running a country.
It means no institutional coordination and state has many cooks so state is bound to collapse.
Well, I do believe in God when I see Pakistan.