The moratorium applied only to civilians, and a soldier was executed in 2012. Hanging remains on the statute book and judges have continued to pass sentence, leaving about 8,000 people on death row. Raheel Sharif, headed to Kabul for talks with the Afghan president, Ashraf Ghani, over tackling the senior Tehreek-e-Taliban members hiding on the Afghanistan side of the border. His top priority will almost certainly be to secure Afghanistan’s cooperation in capturing Mullah Fazlullah, the Pakistan Taliban’s leader. The speed with which the army’s chief of staff decided to visit Kabul is significant, raising the question of whether Pakistan is finally prepared to work with the new Afghan president, not only to tackle Pakistan Taliban members hiding out in Kunar and Nuristan provinces, but also Afghan Taliban operating from the Pakistan side of the border. Pakistan’s intelligence agency, the ISI, has at times denounced the Pakistan Taliban while supporting its Afghan counterpart in an effort to offset growing Indian influence in Kabul. It has also supported violent Kashmiri separatist groups responsible for terrorist attacks in India. As outrage and horror were expressed around the world, it remains to be seen whether the massacre will mark a turning-point in Pakistan’s ambiguous approach to militant extremists.
Posted on: Thu, 18 Dec 2014 06:10:02 +0000
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