YET another cross-border attack, this time in Chitral, has underlined the growing seriousness of the problem along the Pak-Afghan border in Fata. The problem is emanating from the eastern Afghan provinces, particularly Kunar and Nuristan, and appears set to continue for some time. At least two points need to be made here. One, border check posts need to be manned by the army, not the Frontier Corps, Frontier Constabulary, police, levies or scouts. The latter group do not have the necessary training for border duties and is one of the main reasons border check posts have been overrun several times since May. The main duties of the FC, police, levies, etc are to ensure law and order in the tribal areas; it is only the army that has the training and capability to secure the border and rebuff attacks by well-armed militants with knowledge of the local terrain. However, because of resource constraints owing to the various military operations against militants, the army has delegated much of its border patrol duties to paramilitary and lightly armed forces that are under-equipped to deal with the new challenges emanating from Afghanistan's eastern provinces, where many of the militants who fled from Swat have gathered.

Easy as it may be to blame the Afghan government or the Americans and tempting as it is to look at the cross-border raids as a tactical issue, the fact is that the raids must be located in the wider strategic choices of the Pakistan state. The problem with the good Taliban/bad Taliban distinction has always been that it is a false one — they support one another and are committed to a takeover of the state in both Afghanistan and Pakistan. Tolerating the good Taliban for strategic purposes will always redound upon the state here — as is happening with the cross-border raids by the bad Taliban.