For years, Pakistan has been trying to blame external factors for its security failures and shift the blame for its wrong policies onto others, but the reality is different. In fact, Pakistan is a country in the region where if anyone is harmed in the neighboring areas, the root of the harm somehow traces back to Pakistan. There, irresponsible armed groups are trained, and their training camps are not hidden from anyone’s eyes; the trained elements are provided with all kinds of weapons from the Dera Adam Khel market, and with those weapons, tragic incidents are carried out in the region. One of the groups that receives weapons from the Dera Adam Khel market is the ISIS group, which causes harm to Afghanistan and other countries in the region.
The truth is that obtaining weapons in Pakistan is not a difficult task, especially with the presence of markets like Darra Adam Khel, where weapons are freely manufactured and sold; there is neither any control nor strong oversight there. Therefore, it is natural that any group, whether it is TTP, Baloch militants, or other groups, easily gains access to weapons. So, blaming neighboring countries for this problem is not logical at all, because the source, production, and distribution of weapons are happening within the country itself.
Pakistan has always claimed that the American weapons left in Afghanistan have fallen into the hands of armed groups and are being used against them, but these claims are not factual; they are political in nature. According to eyewitnesses who shared their observations on social media, just a few weeks ago, thousands of American weapons were openly displayed for sale in the Dera Adam Khel market near Peshawar, and they were being sold without asking for the buyer’s identity. If there are American weapons there, the source of obtaining them is not from abroad, but from within Pakistan itself. Opponents groups in Pakistan can easily meet their needs from the internal black market, so there is no need to go abroad.
It should also not be forgotten that Pakistan has long been following a policy of supporting, training, and using armed groups; when a country employs unreliable armed forces for strategic purposes, expecting these forces to remain under control is a dangerous illusion. The current security situation in Pakistan is not the result of foreign conspiracies but rather the natural consequence of the military regime’s past mistakes. Pakistan must correctly identify the root of its problems; weak control, internal arms markets, and the nurturing of militant groups are the evident roots. As long as these fundamental issues are not resolved, blaming foreign countries will only be an attempt to cover up the truth.
The U.S. did not leave dangerous and threatening weapons in Afghanistan; rather, before the fall of the republic, it transferred all important weapons back to regional bases thru Pakistan or destroyed them. If weapons had indeed been transferred from Afghanistan to Pakistan on such a large scale, why have Pakistan’s security agencies not yet provided any concrete and reliable evidence? On the contrary, in hundreds of incidents, the smuggling of dangerous weapons and ammunition has been prevented, which were being transferred from this country to Afghanistan, which in itself clearly proves the main flow of weapons.
Dara-e-Adam Khel weapons, which are copies of American, Russian, and other advanced weapons, are easily and cheaply available within Pakistan. To someone who can easily and cheaply obtain the necessary items right next to their home, what need is there to try to acquire weapons from distant and practically inaccessible areas? Isn’t this irrational and illogical?
Claims between countries should be based on realistic evidence and arguments, not on rumors. International websites and media have repeatedly published reports with concrete evidence about the Dera Adam Khel market, such as Al Jazeera, Arab News, research centers, universities, and various reputable YouTube channels; this industry has been created and passed down thru generations by the people of this region, with thousands of people employed in it. So these activities are not hidden or obscure, and now the benefits and losses of this reach Pakistan itself; thus, the profit and loss of Pakistan are its own, and the threat is not external but internal.
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