Pakistan says 22 fighters killed in air attacks on Afghanistan hideouts

Pakistan's military brass has formally requested an American congressional committee examining the Afghan conflict to include Islamabad's perspective in its analysis, the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) confirmed on Monday. This demand came following a high-level meeting at General Headquarters in Rawalpindi, where a delegation from the US Afghanistan War Commission, led by co-chairs Ms. Shamila N. Chaudhary and Dr. Colin F. Jackson, approached the Chief of Army Staff and Chief of Defense Forces, Field Marshal Asim Munir.

Chaudhary, a renowned foreign policy expert with a background on the National Security Council and State Department, while Jackson holds a teaching position at the Naval War College and served as a Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Afghanistan, Pakistan, and Central Asia.

The meeting, as per the ISPR, focused on Pakistan's historical support, regional security dynamics, and the developments inside Afghanistan. Military leaders highlighted the immense security burden that Pakistan has borne during the long-standing conflict, asserting that any evaluation of the war must factor in regional perspectives.

In response, the US delegation visiting from the commission acknowledged Pakistan's enduring sacrifices and its ongoing contributions to regional stability, despite the severe security consequences faced by Pakistan due to the Taliban regime it had aided in rising to power five years ago.

The bipartisan Afghanistan War Commission, established by the US Congress under the 2022 National Defense Authorization Act, is conducting a thorough review of America's 20-year presence in Afghanistan (2001-2021). Inspired by the 9/11 Commission, the 16-member panel scrutinizes strategic choices and generates policy recommendations for future international engagements.

Pakistan's account of the conflict underscores that it was a crucial ally of the United States in the war on terror, furnishing vital logistical assistance, supply routes, and counterterrorism cooperation during the US-led invasion and the ensuing 20-year war in Afghanistan, while simultaneously bearing a substantial human and security toll.

Islamabad has consistently emphasized that, notwithstanding its endeavors to foster regional stability, the region under the control of the Afghan Taliban has increasingly become a haven for banned anti-Pakistan militant groups, notably the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), which Islamabad accuses of plotting and executing assaults inside Pakistan from Afghan territory.

Pakistan has persistently conveyed this apprehension to international bodies, and a recent UN Security Council monitoring report revealed that the Taliban's backing for the TTP has led to a surge in the frequency and severity of militant attacks in Pakistan. Consequently, Islamabad argues that the Taliban's return to power in 2021 has coincided with a marked deterioration in Pakistan's security scenario, with cross-border militancy and attacks escalating.

It asserts that Pakistan's experiences and security challenges must be an indispensable component of any appraisal of the US war in Afghanistan. The tense interaction with the US Afghanistan War Commission took place just days after Islamabad initiated precision cross-border strikes against terrorist sanctuaries inside Afghanistan, utilized as command and execution centers for drone strikes against Pakistan.