Taliban donations, recruitment on the rise in Pakistan
May 29, 2021
Kabul [Afghanistan], May 29 : As the United States continues with its final phase of drawdown from Afghanistan, concerns have been growing that some local terrorists in Pakistan could join the ranks of the Afghan Taliban in large numbers.
After the US and its allies began their withdrawal of troops on May 1, clashes have surged dramatically in Afghanistan, with terrorist groups attempting to capture more territory as the September 11 deadline draws near.
According to the Deutsche Welle, experts caution that Afghanistan is at risk of surging violence similar to that of the 1990s when the Taliban rose to power and thousands of Pakistanis joined the Afghan Taliban to fight the Northern Alliance.
Although, the Afghan Taliban is banned in Pakistan, however, videos of Islamist groups have emerged, showing clerics soliciting support on Pakistani social media platforms.
The clerics in Pakistan are enticing people into joining the Taliban as state authorities turn a blind eye, said Muhammed Sarfraz Khan, the former director of the Area Study Center of Peshawar University.
The withdrawal of foreign troops will have a severe impact on the northwestern and western provinces of Pakistan, he added.
However, a few experts believe that Pakistanis are unlikely to join Afghan Taliban forces in large numbers as they did during the Soviet War in Afghanistan.
"The situation is much different now because the government is watchful. It will not allow people to cross over into Afghanistan and fight for the Taliban," Political analyst Rahimullah Yusufzai told DW.
"However, in remote areas close to the Afghan border, people might still go to fight and collect donations," he said.
Afghanistan has seen a spike in the incidents of violence in recent weeks, since the start of the US drawdown from Afghanistan. US President Joe Biden last month announced to withdraw all troops from Afghanistan by September 11 this year.
The Afghan security forces are currently fighting the Taliban in over 100 provinces, TOLO news reported. Ahmad Zia Saraj, the head of the Afghan intelligence agency -- the National Directorate of Security (NDS) said that the Taliban has launched over 3,500 attacks since the start of the year.
