Taliban Leader Capture Suggests Pakistan Strategy Shift

Lisa Curtis / February 17, 2010

The recent capture of the number two Afghan Taliban leader Abdul Ghani Bahadur in Pakistan is a blow to the Afghan Taliban and their ability to coordinate the insurgency in southern Afghanistan. Bahadur’s arrest will help reestablish Pakistan’s counterterrorism credentials with Washington. The Pakistan military leadership also may be seeking to ensure a role in determining the future direction of Afghanistan, at the same time U.S. and coalition forces begin an important offensive in a Taliban stronghold in Afghanistan’s southern Helmand province. While it is too early to say whether the arrest of Bahadur signals a sea change in Pakistani thinking toward the Afghan Taliban, it shows at least a willingness to exert influence over the movement at a crucial moment in the Afghanistan war.

While the administration should encourage these signs of fresh cooperation from Pakistan, the U.S. must remain clear-headed about Pakistani goals in the region and accept that Pakistani interests often diverge from those of the U.S. While the U.S. seeks to prevent Afghanistan from again serving as a safe haven for international terrorists, Pakistan’s primary goal is to curb Indian influence in the country. Pakistani Chief of Army Staff General Ashfaq Parvez Kayani restated in press interviews last week that India remains the primary threat to Pakistan and the focus of the Pakistani military. (more…)