Afghan Taliban leader Mullah Hibatullah has established a formal commission under the pretext of unrest and business activities in Pakistan’s border areas, effectively for the purpose of smuggling. The commission has been given broad representation, powers, and a budget. The commission is headed by the Taliban’s Minister for Borders and Tribal Affairs, Mullah Noorullah Noori. Its members include GDI Director for Refugees Qari Ishaq Saeed, Director of Nations, Tribes and Borders Mohammad Akhtar Shah Hashmi, Director for Borders and Neighboring Countries Qari Wasil Zakir, and the head of the Reform Commission, Maulvi Qasim Khalid.
According to a notification issued by Mullah Hibatullah after a meeting of Afghanistan’s zonal heads in Kandahar on January 21, five zones adjacent to the Pakistani border, along with the Afghan Ministry of Interior, Ministry of Defence, Ministry of Borders, and GDI, have been made institutional members of the commission and have been bound to cooperate with it. The zonal heads appointed to assist the commission include the head of the Southwestern Zone (Kandahar Zone), Mullah Muhammad Ali Hanafi alias Mullah Shireen (Alizai, Kandahari).
The head of the Southeastern Zone (Paktia Zone) is Maulvi Mehrullah (Alizai, Helmand), the head of the Eastern Zone (Nangarhar Zone) is Haji Naeem Gul alias Haji Gul Muhammad Barech (Alizai, Helmand), the head of the Northern Zone (Balkh Zone) is Yusuf Wafa (Alizai, Kandahari), and the head of the Northeastern Zone (Kunduz Zone) is Haji Muhammad Khan Dawat (Alizai, Helmand). Under the same notification, the Ministry of Interior is represented by Deputy Interior Minister Mullah Ibrahim Sadr, the Ministry of Defence is represented by Deputy Minister Mullah Fazil Mazloom, while the Minister for Borders himself heads the commission and three representatives of GDI are also included.
The notification assigns the commission responsibility for monitoring ISIS activities, preventing insecurity along the border and keeping an eye on the activities of neighboring countries. Sources say that the main purpose of this commission is to increase insecurity inside Pakistani territory and, by building ties with local tribes, to create facilities for terrorist groups.
The commission has been given full and general authority by Mullah Hibatullah, and a budget has also been allocated. The source claims that the Reform Commission included in this body is already in contact with the TTP, the Hafiz Gul Bahadur group, and other militant groups and is facilitating them on Afghan soil. Meanwhile, the Minister for Borders, Mullah Noori, is in direct contact with ethnic, tribal, political, and armed groups opposed to the government of Pakistan, and since October last year, several of them have been invited to Afghan territory and meetings have been held with them.
Under this same policy, Mullah Noori has been continuing meetings with tribal elders on both sides of the border. Now, with Mullah Hibatullah formally establishing this commission and assigning it an agenda of contacts and unrest inside Pakistan, there are fears that tensions along the Pak-Afghan border will increase. According to the source, an interesting point is that Mullah Hibatullah is, through a planned strategy, tightening the grip of people from his own tribe over the entire country. All five zonal heads included in this border tribal commission belong to the Alizai tribe, which is Mullah Hibatullah’s own tribe.
