333 Carlos Setas Relations between Afghanistan and Pakistan and the peace process with the afhgan taliban RELATIONS BETWEEN AFGHANISTAN AND PAKISTAN AND THE PEACE PROCESS WITH THE AFHGAN TALIBAN 1. Introducción Nearly 12 years have now elapsed since the US invasion of Afghanistan and Pakistan’s connection with developments in its neighbouring country remains as palpable as it was in 2001. Northern Alliance troops, with the support of US forces, then overthrew the Taliban regime, whose rise to power had been promoted and backed by Islamabad, with continued support provided until US pressure forced a change in policy. With the first NATO drawdown operations marking the start of the long withdrawal from Afghanistan, which is to be extended until at least 2014, war in Afghanistan has, on balance, hardly had a positive outcome. The Taliban continue to be a relevant force in considerable areas of the country, while the government in Kabul, with Hamid Karzai in office since 2002, does not enjoy great popularity. Much of the failure of the US and NATO to stabilise Afghanistan and remove the threat of the Taliban has been blamed on the role played by Pakistan. Despite officially being a close ally of Washington, relations between Pakistan and the US can be classed as strained; on occasions, they reach breaking point. This is the case chiefly due to repeated US allegations accusing Pakistan of harbouring Afghan insurgents on its territory as well as of providing more direct assistance on other occasions. The most common complaint expressed by the US over the course of its 11 years of intervention in Afghanistan was that Pakistan was not doing enough to assist the country in its “war on terror”. The upper echelons of the Afghan Taliban, headed by Mullah Omar, are to be found in Pakistan, apparently in the Quetta area in Balochistan, from where they ope-rate a kind of government in exile. The other organisation creating problems for US and Afghan troops is the Haqqani clan, whose bases are located in North Wazi-ristan in the tribal areas of Pakistan, and who have enjoyed important links with the army and the Pakistani state since the 1970s. Both organisations are able to carry out their work and cross the border with Afghanistan without too much trouble from the Pakistani authorities, if not with their complicity. It thus appears that US accusations are not entirely baseless. As such, Pakistan exercises a certain degree of influence over the Afghan insurgency.
REVISTA IEEE 2
To see the actual publication please follow the link above