Border Post Attack Kills Pakistani Paramilitary Soldiers

ISLAMABAD — At least seven Pakistani paramilitary soldiers were killed Tuesday this morning by hostile fire from across the Afghan-Pakistan border in a suspected Taliban attack highlighting the continued inability of Kabul and Islamabad to deal have in dealing with the militants.
 
A press release by the Pakistan military's media branch, Inter Services Public Relations (ISPR), claimed heavy fire from across the border early Tuesday morning on the Frontier Corps (FC) check post northeast of Angoor Adda in South Waziristan had resulted in seven fatalities.
 
South Waziristan had been a long-time Pakistan Taliban (TTP) stronghold, but they were forced out by the Pakistan military and fled into neighboring North Waziristan. Their remnants are currently engaged in fierce fighting with government forces in the rugged and heavily forested Shawwal Valley as the military tries to evict them as part of the ongoing Operation Zarb-i-Azb counter-terrorist campaign. 
 
Many TTP members, their allies and affiliates slipped across the border into Afghanistan, however. Though their permanent re-entry into Pakistan is frustrated by the presence of the FC and regular Army stationed along the border, they now appear to be attacking from across the border at will. 
 
"I suspect these sort of cross-border attacks by the TTP and fellow ideological travelers will be something that, unfortunately, the Pakistan state will have to live with for the foreseeable future," said Claude Rakisits, nonresident senior fellow at the Atlantic Council's South Asia Center.
 
"The Pakistan military has done an excellent job hunting down the myriad of terrorist groups, degrading their capability and disrupting their network since June last year when military operations in South Waziristan and other parts of [Federally Administered Tribal Areas] began. And this has been reflected by the very significant decrease in terrorist attacks inside Pakistan," he said.
 
"Unfortunately, terrorism in general can never be completely eliminated; it can only be managed and contained at levels acceptable to the civilian population. Moreover, in the case of Pakistan, this issue is complicated by the rugged and difficult nature of the terrain along the Afghan-Pakistan border which makes it an ideal environment for terrorists and insurgents to operate," he added.
 
How to counter these attacks, therefore, seems to be something for which there is no ready answer.
 
Rakisits said he believes that it "would be in Kabul's long-term interest to try to stop these raids; given the poor state of bilateral relations, it is unlikely that President Ashraf Ghani is going to dedicate resources in helping Pakistan on this issue when he already has his hands full trying to deal with terrorist attacks against targets in his own country."
 
Analyst, author and former Australian defense attache to Islamabad, Brian Cloughley, analyst, author and former Australian defense attache to Islamabad, said believes the Afghan military is not up to the task in any case, and the Taliban are fighting a very determined classic insurgent campaign.
 
"The [Afghan National Army] is in a bad way and is incapable of patrolling the border region effectively — even if Kabul wants it to, which might be questionable," he said. "The Taliban have adopted the classic tactics of insurgents, straight out of Mao's guidebook.  Kunduz was a prime example," he added, in reference to the recent Taliban capture of the northern Afghan city.
 
Air power has been a decisive factor on the Pakistani side of the border, but analyst, author, and former Air Force pilot Kaiser Tufail says said this is not an option in this case. 
 
"Striking terrorist sanctuaries inside Afghanistan is not an option due to the diplomatic fallout, as well as setting a precedent which India would not hesitate to follow, if it wanted to conduct similar punitive raids inside Pakistan," he said.
 
This only really leaves ground-based heavy weaponry as a possible response, but in this case Cloughley says said, "The FC might not have had the ability to call in artillery fire." 
Though he understands elsewhere the situation is different, and the problem of providing timely fire support likely to remain 
"Some [FC] are trained as forward observers; there's no problem there, and usually there is artillery within range of patrols — but not always. The bases right on the border usually have mortars, and there are 105s and 155s further back.  But obviously the entire line can't be covered all the time," he said.