Why Afghanistan And Pakistan Cannot Cooperate To Defeat The Taliban

Pakistani Taliban fighters, who were arrested by Afghan border police, stand during a presentation of seized weapons and equipment to the media in Kabul, Afghanistan on January 5, 2016.

Ayesha Tanzeem, VOA: Why Pakistan Won't Go After Afghan Taliban

ISLAMABAD—Pakistan is hesitant to take action against the Afghan Taliban on its soil because of concerns the group will redirect its violence against Pakistan and Afghan intelligence will support it, a senior Pakistani official said.

“We have to think twice before taking action. Anybody we take action against is immediately supported from the other side,” the official told VOA on the condition of anonymity.

Afghan President Ashraf Ghani recently demanded that Pakistan either take military action against Taliban commanders on its soil or arrest them and hand them over to Kabul.

Pakistan has often complained that when it launched military operations in Swat and South Waziristan in 2009, militants belonging to Pakistani Taliban took shelter in Afghanistan and started using it as a base, with the help of Afghan intelligence, to carry out operations against Pakistan.

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WNU Editor: Bottom line .... they do not trust each other.