Taliban donations, recruitments surging in Pakistan as authorities turn blind eye: Report

The clerics in Pakistan are promoting people to join the extremist group, Taliban as the state authorities continue to turn a ‘blind eye’ to the situation, said Muhammed Sarfraz Khan, the former director of the Area Study Center of Peshawar University as per news agency ANI. Even though the Afghan Taliban is banned in Pakistan, videos and images of clerics soliciting support on Pakistani social media platforms have often emerged. As the US continues its final clampdown on extremist forces in war-torn Afghanistan, reportedly there have been concerns that some local terrorists in Pakistan could join the ranks of the Afghan Taliban in huge numbers. 

Budding from the United States decision to withdraw its remaining troops from May 1 from Afghanistan, clashes have also dramatically surged there with militants trying to capture as much territory as possible until the September 11 deadline draws closer. Muhammed Sarfraz Khan has reportedly also added that the redeployment of foreign troops will have a severe impact on the northwestern and western provinces of Pakistan.

‘The situation is much different’, say some experts

Deutsche Welle stated that experts caution the situation in Afghanistan is developing towards similar violence as it did in the 1990s when the Taliban rose to power and thousands of Pakistanis joined the Afghan Taliban to tackle the Northern Alliance. However, as per ANI, some experts have also noted that the “situation is much different” now. Political analyst Rahimullah Yusufzai said, “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.”

“However, in remote areas close to the Afghan border, people might still go to fight and collect donations," he said as per ANI. In recent weeks, violence in Afghanistan has intensified especially after US President Joe Biden announced the withdrawal of all remaining troops from the foreign country by September 11 this year. The Afghan security forces are presently fighting the extremist group in more than 100 provinces, as per reports. 

IMAGE: AP(Representative)