How Pakistani intelligence moves among the Taliban factions
What does the visit of Faiz Hameed, Pakistan's intelligence director, to Kabul mean? Giuseppe Gagliano's analysis
The director of the powerful Pakistani intelligence agency paid a surprise visit to the Afghan capital Kabul on Saturday in an attempt to mediate between rival factions of the Taliban.
THE VISIT OF LIEUTENANT HAMEED TO KABUL
Lieutenant General Faiz Hameed, director of the Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) Directorate, was accidentally spotted by a British TV crew in a Kabul hotel on Saturday.
Asked about the purpose of his visit, Hameed said he planned to hold a meeting with Pakistan's ambassador to Afghanistan. He did not answer questions as to whether he would also meet the Taliban leadership, with whom the ISI has traditionally had close relations.
On Sunday, however, it emerged that Hameed had met Gulbuddin Hekmatyar, the Pakistani-backed Pashtun leader and founder of the Afghan party Hezb-e-Islami Gulbuddin.
THE PRESSURES OF PAKISTAN ON THE TALEBANS
It is said that in Hekmatyar, who served twice as prime minister of Afghanistan in the 1990s, the Taliban will ask to join a coalition government. Islamabad is said to be pressuring the Taliban to include non-Taliban figures in their cabinet, and thus form a government partnership with non-Taliban elements.
THE INTERNAL FIGHT TO THE TALEBANS
Furthermore, numerous reports claim that serious differences have emerged between the two strongest factions of the Taliban, concerning the appointment of cabinet officials.
One faction is led by the group's co-founder, Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar, and the other by the Taliban deputy leader, Anas Haqqani. The latter is the brother of Sirajuddin Haqqani, who heads the powerful Haqqani Network, a militant group that works closely with the Taliban but has maintained its operational independence.
CLASHES BETWEEN THE HAQQANI MILITIA AND THE TALEBANS
There have also been reports that members of the Haqqani militia exchanged gunshots with Taliban units in Kabul last Friday, although these were rejected as fakes by the Taliban.
Pakistani mediation?
Many observers believe that the differences between the various Taliban factions are real and that Hameed traveled to Kabul in an attempt to help them resolve their differences with the help of Pakistani mediation. It is assumed that Hameed's visit was also intended to help the new Afghan government organize its armed forces and ensure that the airport in the Afghan capital becomes operational soon.
This is a machine translation from Italian language of a post published on Start Magazine at the URL https://www.startmag.it/mondo/intelligence-pakistan-talebani-afghanistan/ on Tue, 07 Sep 2021 08:26:42 +0000.