Frontline Pakistan : The Struggle With Militant Islam - Arz-e-Pak

Frontline Pakistan
the military government to contain the Islamic forces. The protests
were confined to the Pashtun-dominated region of the North West
Frontier Province and Western Balochistan. This outrage against the
US attack on Afghanistan consequently led the Islamic parties to sweep
the parliamentary polls a year later in the two border provinces having
close ethnic proximity with Afghanistan.
General Musharraf had two major concerns as the US-led coalition
forces launched military strikes in Afghanistan: the war had to be short
and targeted, so as to avoid collateral damage; and there should be
a friendly post-operation political dispensation in Afghanistan. He
suggested working with what he called the ‘moderate Taliban’. In a
television interview in November 2001, Musharraf argued that the
moderate Taliban was willing to bring about a change and it should be
accepted in a future administration. He repeatedly sought assurances
from the US administration that the Northern Alliance, which had a
strong anti-Pakistan stance and close ties with India, would not be
permitted to enter Kabul. 30
After putting up stiff resistance, the Taliban regime collapsed in the
second week of November. The quick fall came as a surprise to the
US military authorities who expected the war to drag on for months
if not years. The Taliban first lost Mazar-i-Sharif to the Northern
Alliance where thousands of their soldiers were made prisoners. A
large number of them were Pakistanis. Within a few days, Taliban
forces had fled Kabul in the dead of night without a shot being fired.
The next day the Northern Alliance triumphantly entered Kabul to the
utter embarrassment of President Bush who had asked them to stay
out of the Afghan capital. He had done so on the urging of General
Musharraf who had warned that revenge killings would ensue if Kabul
fell to the Northern Alliance. The US and Pakistani leaders had agreed
to put in place a representative government in Kabul and declare it
a demilitarized city. Getting the American President to agree to his
request was seen as a major diplomatic success for the Pakistani
military leader.
Pakistan was not happy when the anti-Taliban alliance took over
control of the city, and there was a visible estrangement in Islamabad’s
relations with the new political regime installed in Kabul. Long-term
ties with the Taliban made Pakistan wary of the new internationally
supported Afghan government. However, Pakistani intelligence
agencies maintained some degree of cooperation with the Taliban
elements fleeing the fighting. While the Pakistani military establishment