Men, money, training: How Pakistan has helped Taliban over the years

NEW DELHI: The Taliban needs Pakistan for sustenance. This is widely believed in diplomatic and military circles around the world.
From the days of its genesis during the Soviet presence in Afghanistan, its regime in Kabul till 2001, survival during the next 20 years to the current resurgence following US withdrawal- Pakistan's signature of backing the Taliban is all too evident.
Only Islamabad, rather unconvincingly, tries to deny some of these. But there are just too many smoking guns to belie the claims.
Jihad nurseries
In thousands of madrassas around Pakistan, students are indoctrinated to join the 'jihad' in Afghanistan, according to analysts as well as Pakistani and international rights groups.
In mosques and on the streets in the Khyber Pukhtunkhwa province bordering Afghanistan, militants openly preach jihad. Clerics in various parts of the country are also soliciting support for the Afghan Taliban and even calling for donations. Stories abound of Taliban recruits from Afghanistan crossing over to Pakistan for arms and weapons training.
Authorities turn a blind eye to such activities, or take cosmetic action only when there is a major uproar.

Dead bodies from across the border
Pakistan has been receiving dead bodies of its citizens, killed in fighting' from across the border on the Chaman-Spin Boldak and Torkhum border crossings.
According to locals in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Balochistan, dozens of Pakistanis have been killed in Afghanistan in the past few months while fighting alongside the Taliban against the Afghan forces. Hundreds of people had attended the funerals of these fighters in various parts of the two provinces.
Treatment in Pakistan hospitals
Taliban fighters wounded in fighting are often carried across the border to Pakistani hospoitals for treatment.
A doctor in the border town of Chaman on the Pakistani side told the AP he treated dozens of wounded Taliban. Several were transferred to hospitals in Quetta for further treatment.
Quetta is also where several in the Taliban leadership reportedly live, as well as in Karachi. Their children attend schools in Pakistan; some of them also own properties in the country.

A behemoth out of control?
As the Taliban assert control over more and more Afghan territory, Western countries are trying to prevail over Pakistan to use its leverage with the group to restore peace.
Pakistan has tried unsuccessfully to convince Afghans and the world they don't want a Taliban government back in Kabul. They say the days of Pakistan seeing Afghanistan as a client state, to provide so-called "strategic depth" against India, is a thing of the past.
Pakistan's Prime Minister Imran Khan has stressed that Pakistan wants peace in Afghanistan, has no favorites in the battle and is deeply opposed to a military takeover by the Taliban.
The Pakistani army chief has twice walked out of meetings with the Taliban, frustrated at their intransigence and infuriated by what he sees as the Taliban's determination to return to full power in Afghanistan, AP reported quoting senior security officials.
Afghan government forces, depleted and demoralised, have been retreating in the face of Taliban assault. With the momentum clearly in their favour, the Taliban is in no mood to relent. This is a battle they think they can win. And that makes chances of settlement through dialogue remote and unlikely.
(With agency inputs)