In a classic case of intelligence blowback for Pakistan, six top leaders of the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan that seeks to destroy Pakistan and Afghanistan and convert them into a so-called Sharia-compliant Islamic state, have pledged allegiance to the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS).
“I am confirming my allegiance to Amirul Momineen [Commander of the Faithful] Abu Bakr Al-Baghdadi and will abide by all his decisions, whatever the order, and whatever the circumstances I shall be loyal to him,” the statement said in Arabic and Urdu.
The announcement will have serious implications not only for Pakistan, now suffering the consequences of creating terrorist Frankenstein monsters to further its geo-strategic interests that have turned against it, but also for the entire South Asian region. Perhaps, it is time for the US and international forces to revise their policy of scaling down troop presence in Afghanistan and treating the terror threat in the region on par with its growing menace in Iraq, Syria and the Levant.
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Indeed, the chicken has come home to roost. Perhaps, Pakistan will learn what Shakespeare wrote ‘even handed justice returns to plague the inventor.’ It is time that the ISI mended its ways and helped international community and India from rooting out the scourge of terrorism from South Asia.