Mullah Abdul Salam and Mullah Mir Muhammad, senior Afghan Taliban officials often called the “shadow governors” of two northern Afghan provinces, were captured by Pakistani authorities yesterday. In the past, Pakistan had been criticized for secretly harboring and supporting Afghani Taliban. These arrests are just two in a series of Taliban arrests in Pakistan, signaling Pakistan’s shifting policy towards the Taliban in Afghanistan.
However, the reasons behind the policy change are unclear. Some analysts believe Pakistan has succumbed to international pressure or realized the negative effects of the Afghan Taliban operating within Pakistan borders, including the emergence of copycat terrorist organizations targeting the Pakistani state. Others believe that by arresting senior Afghan Taliban leaders, the Pakistani government is pressuring the Taliban to negotiate in order to gain more influence in Afghanistan and avoid an Afghan civil war in on their western border.
To read more, see The Guardian.
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