DAWN Editorials 14th August 2026

Taliban support

THE latest UN monitoring report analysing the activities of several transnational terrorist groups is unequivocal in its assessment: the Afghan Taliban “have continued their support” to the banned TTP.

Though the report says that the regime in Kabul has taken some tepid steps to control its TTP comrades, this is clearly not enough, as the continuing reign of terror orchestrated by the TTP in Pakistan shows. Moreover, the document also confirms that Taliban-ruled Afghanistan remains a safe haven for a number of lethal terrorist groups, posing a grave security challenge to regional countries.

These outfits include IS-K, Al Qaeda — which includes AQIS, its Indian subcontinent arm — and ETIM. The report says that IS-K poses the biggest threat to both the Taliban regime and the broader region, despite suffering setbacks due to the kinetic action taken by Pakistan as well as Kabul.

Some parts of the report deserve particular attention. For example, it says that IS-K and the banned BLA may be collaborating. Moreover, the TTP has apparently expanded its operations to Balochistan, Kashmir and Gilgit-Baltistan. Al Qaeda has also solidified its support to the TTP, while AQIS, through the Ittehadul Mujahideen Pakistan, has stepped up its terrorist attacks in this country. Beyond Pakistan-centric groups, ETIM is active in the Wakhan corridor, which poses a direct threat to China. These findings indicate that the TTP is looking to broaden its geographical reach, while AQIS is also expanding its violent footprint.

The UN report says that the Kabul regime has taken some steps to try and control the TTP. These include relocating around 2,000 terrorists and their dependants away from the Pakistan border. Moreover, it says that Afghan Taliban supremo Mullah Hibatullah Akhundzada has “warned the TTP leadership … to halt attacks targeting Pakistan” or risk losing the Taliban’s support. These warnings appear to have fallen on deaf ears, as the TTP has not scaled back its bloody campaign.

The fact is that ending the terrorist threat emanating from Afghanistan will take more than cosmetic steps and lukewarm warnings. If the Taliban regime wants to be taken seriously it needs to take across-the-board action against all terrorist groups on Afghan soil. They cannot pick and choose — for example, fighting IS-K but facilitating the TTP and AQIS. As we have argued earlier on these pages, a multilateral approach is required to address Afghanistan’s terrorism problem.

The groups active on Afghan soil pose a threat to the entire region, not just Pakistan. Therefore, all of Afghanistan’s neighbours must send the same message to the Taliban: end support for terrorist groups. If they cooperate they can be integrated into the region; if not, the Kabul regime must be shunned by regional states until it changes its ways.

Published in Dawn, August 14th, 2026

Job policy for youth

STRIPPED of its rhetoric, the prime minister’s announcement of Pakistan’s first National Youth Employment Policy is nothing more than hollow promises. While long on aspirations, the announcement is short on details. For starters, how does the government intend to create employment for millions when the economy itself is struggling? How does it plan to raise women’s participation in the labour force to 35pc? What exactly does a ‘10pc quota’ for start-ups mean? Is the government promising to procure from young technology companies, reserve financing for them and allocate public contracts or simply encourage entrepreneurship? Is the policy about technology-based businesses, conventional small enterprises or self-employment? Explanations matter because the youth problem is fundamentally an economic one. Without answers, the announcement remains closer to political rhetoric than a workable policy.

Pakistan has a rapidly growing working-age population entering a labour market that is failing to absorb it. The government cannot solve this problem through public-sector recruitment. Its capacity to create jobs is severely constrained by fiscal pressures, a bloated public payroll and the need to contain expenditure. Hence, the private sector has to be the principal engine of growth and employment. However, for most of the years under the current political leadership, the economy has been trapped in survival mode. Macroeconomic stabilisation has understandably dominated policymaking. Domestic investors remain cautious, while foreign investment has remained far below what Pakistan needs to expand productive capacity and create employment at scale. Stabilisation cannot produce enough jobs, which is causing unease among various stakeholders. A federal minister recently described the economy as being in survival mode and told a business audience that laptops cannot be a substitute for jobs, an obvious jab at the PM’s signature youth initiative. Freebies cannot substitute for an economy capable of employing people. The real test of a youth employment policy, therefore, should not be the number of laptops distributed, students trained or start-ups announced. It should be the pace of economic growth and the number of sustainable private sector jobs created. That requires the government to address the harder questions of reforms to make manufacturing, exports, technology, agriculture and services expand rapidly enough to absorb new workers. No job strategy can succeed in an economy constrained by low productivity and sluggish growth.

Published in Dawn, August 14th, 2026

Jail improvements

THE Punjab government is spending Rs5bn on modernising jail facilities in the province, but to what end? The provincial home department’s shopping list is quite something to behold: reportedly, more than 12,000 modern cameras are to be installed in Punjab’s prisons, as well as “615 panic buttons, 1,525 public address systems, 369 body cameras, 615 walkie-talkie systems and 41 X-ray body scanners [...] In addition, 82 under-vehicle surveillance systems and 787 facial recognition access devices will also be installed”. Armed with all this equipment, the jail authorities will monitor entry and exit points, offices, barracks, security walls, kitchens, hospitals and libraries. This upgradation exercise, expected to be completed by March 2027, is supposed to make Punjab’s jails ‘better’. But how? It is worth recalling that Punjab’s prisons are some of the most overcrowded in the country. Will any of this expenditure contribute towards making conditions more humane in those facilities?

It is worth highlighting here that in Punjab’s overcrowded jails, about three-quarters of the prison population comprises undertrial prisoners; in other words, individuals suffering endlessly from the deprivation of their civil liberties without being found guilty of any crime. There are also thousands of women, and hundreds of juveniles and infants accompanying their incarcerated mothers. Health issues are rampant, with a high incidence of hepatitis, HIV and diabetes reported in the past. The mental health of prisoners is underserved, and there usually are not enough doctors to cater to the burgeoning population. While the Punjab government has, to its credit, other commendable initiatives to improve prison conditions as well, it would have been better if it continued to focus on improving conditions for prisoners instead of spending so much money on turning its jails into even more dystopian places than they already are. More than the facilities, it is the people housed in them that need the authorities’ care and compassion.

Published in Dawn, August 14th, 2026