RASC News Agency: Amid escalating clashes between the Taliban and Pakistani forces at the Torkham border, former Afghanistan government officials are calling on Pakistan to disclose the details of its secret agreement with the Taliban. Opposition figures argue that Pakistan’s support for the Taliban was based on a covert pact, and it is now time for Islamabad to reveal the full extent of this hidden deal. Amrullah Saleh, the former Vice President of Afghanistan, took to X (formerly Twitter) on Tuesday, March 4, demanding that Pakistan release the contents of the agreement between its military establishment and Taliban-affiliated councils. He stated, “Pakistan must disclose the contract between its military apparatus and the Taliban-linked councils so that the world can see the root of the conflict between the master and its creations.”
According to Saleh, Pakistan and the Taliban had reached a secret deal under which Islamabad provided extensive support to the group. He claimed that this agreement was brokered in August 2021 in Quetta, Miramshah, and Peshawar, key Taliban strongholds within Pakistan. Other political analysts argue that Pakistan’s unwavering support for the Taliban was a strategic miscalculation, and Islamabad is now beginning to realize its mistake. Saleh, referring to the ongoing border skirmishes, stated that these tensions are not the result of popular disputes but rather the fallout of smuggling networks, terrorism, and the collapse of “disgraceful backroom deals” between the Taliban and Pakistan’s intelligence agency, ISI.
He asserted that “the original sin was supporting terrorism,” placing full blame on both ISI and the Taliban, emphasizing that “these two entities have no connection to the legitimate interests of the Afghanistani people.” Over the past week, violent confrontations between the Taliban and Pakistani border forces at Torkham have intensified, resulting in the death of one Taliban fighter and injuries to at least four others. Observers now question whether the breakdown of this secret agreement is pushing Islamabad and the Taliban toward an inevitable confrontation, further destabilizing the already fragile Afghanistan-Pakistan border relations.
