Retired Pakistani General Urges Taliban To Change Its Behaviour

Islamabad (GNP): A retired Pakistani army general has said the future of the Afghan Taliban depends on whether the group is willing to change its conduct towards its neighbours. General Muhammad Saeed made the case in a published article on relations between Islamabad and Kabul.

Saeed described what he sees as three main aims of the Taliban where Pakistan is concerned. The first is to change the existing situation along the border. The second is to keep transit trade running without extra restrictions from Islamabad.

The third, in his view, is to see a government in Pakistan that follows the Taliban’s own reading of Sharia. He called this the most important of the three.

He argued that the Taliban leadership feels emboldened after its past successes against foreign forces. In his assessment, it believes allied groups such as Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan and the Baloch Liberation Army can achieve something similar against Pakistan.

Saeed said Pakistani intelligence agencies hold evidence of these aims and of plans to back armed groups hostile to the country. He also claimed that Taliban officials have privately admitted such groups are present in Afghanistan. According to him, they point to limited capacity and to obligations under the Pakhtunwali code as reasons for not acting against them.

He said Pakistan has tried political, diplomatic, intelligence and military engagement with the Taliban since 2021. Over the same period, he argued, attacks launched from Afghan territory have grown in both number and intensity.

On that basis, Saeed said Pakistan turned to military action only after diplomacy failed to stop Afghan soil being used against it. He described the operations as self-defence and argued that a state facing constant threats cannot rule out force indefinitely.

He accepted that some political groups in Pakistan oppose military action and prefer continued engagement with Kabul. To address this, he called for political consultation and for credible intelligence to be shared, so the public can understand the nature and scale of the threat.

Saeed also stressed that diplomatic channels with the Taliban should stay open. He said direct or mediated talks can continue alongside Pakistan’s security measures.

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The retired general further argued that the Taliban should not assume its past victories can be repeated elsewhere. He said its return to power in 1996 and again in 2021 followed the weakness or collapse of Afghan military forces, a situation he does not expect armed groups to find in Pakistan.

He warned that without a change in approach, tensions between the two countries could persist and prolong the cycle of conflict along their shared border.

Muhammad Saeed said, “Afghanistan’s future rests on the Taliban moving beyond its armed origins towards responsible governance and peaceful ties with neighbours.”