A DEVASTATING attack deep inside Kabul, near the presidential palace and inside the diplomatic quarter, has caused a wrenching loss of life and injuries to hundreds of people.

The grim reality is that in a country wracked by war almost continuously for several decades, there remain atrocities that can still cause unprecedented shock and revulsion.

Pakistan grieves with the people of Afghanistan. The absence of a claim of responsibility, with the Afghan Taliban going so far as to deny involvement, is perhaps not an aberration.

Given the extremely high civilian casualty toll, militants may be reluctant to take ownership of a bombing that could cause public opinion to turn against them.

Yet, the bombing was deliberate and presumably so was the message that absolutely no place in Afghanistan is safe, not the high-security zones in Kabul and certainly not the far-flung areas of the country where state control is tenuous at best.

Immediately, and perhaps predictably, a blame game has begun with some Afghan officials accusing the Haqqani network and Pakistan of being responsible for the attack.

Undoubtedly, the attack raises fresh concerns for the Afghan and Pakistani states, but perhaps both sides are unwilling to acknowledge the fundamental realities of the region today.

For Afghanistan, the bombing points to an increasingly apparent though uncomfortable reality: were it not for international support, the Afghan state as it exists could implode.

The Afghan security forces may have pockets of competence and even excellence, particularly the army special forces that have fought the Taliban valiantly, but the overall situation suggests that the security forces are unable to deliver progressive improvements in the fight against the insurgents.

Simply, without external military and economic backing, there are few scenarios in which the Afghan state is viable or sustainable.

Cooperation, then, between Afghanistan and Pakistan is an obvious alternative to the endless accusations that undermine the bilateral relationship.

In the rise of the militant Islamic State group, there is a common threat to both, while each country could benefit from action by the other side against militant sanctuaries in their respective areas.

The pattern of recent times must be broken — of Pakistan blaming Afghanistan after a major attack on Pakistani soil and Afghanistan blaming Pakistan after a major attack on its soil.

At least on the Pakistani side, there has been an effort lately to provide intelligence to Kabul for action against the Pakistani Taliban based on Afghan soil.

If Afghanistan does have evidence of involvement of the Haqqani network in the Kabul attack, it should share it with Pakistan and perhaps also with a third party that can act as mediator if necessary.

Enough blood has been shed; Pakistan and Afghanistan must work together to fight militancy and protect the people of the region.

Published in Dawn, June 2nd, 2017