The Taliban have confirmed that their leader Mullah Omar is dead, and are thought to have appointed Mullah Akhtar Mansour as the movement's official head.
But there has been an eerie silence in Pakistani quarters in the 24 hours since the Afghan government announced that Mullah Omar died in a Pakistani hospital in April 2013.
This was despite reports that the top leadership council of the Taliban had been meeting in the Pakistani city of Quetta to choose the successor.
Pakistan's state television has ignored the news for the most part since it first broke.
WNU Editor: Pakistan has a problem .... and at least some people are now asking the hard questions in Pakistan .... Govt prefers quiet in NA on Mullah Omar (DAWN). The death of Taliban leader Mullah Omar and the subsequent appointment of Mullah Akhtar Mansour to replace him sheds light on how the Taliban leadership uses Pakistan's cities as a safe haven to conduct and coordinate their war in Afghanistan .... and in turn it shows Pakistan's willingness to not only tolerate their presence, but to protect it. In the weeks and months to come we are going to see Pakistan being put under pressure to curtail the Taliban within their borders .... whether or not they do it is another question.
Update: Taliban succession: A win for Pakistan? (Emmanuel Duparcq, Arab News)
". and in turn it shows Pakistan's willingness to not only tolerate their presence, but to protect it."
ReplyDeleteSo why are they considered allies?
Why do we pay them foreign aid?
With allies like this does the pottery barn rule even make sense?
My partial answer to the 1st 2 questions is we have leaders like (fill in the blank ->) _itch McConnell.