Nilofar Sakhi
Over the past several months, relations between Afghanistan and Pakistan have deteriorated to one of their lowest points in years. Escalating border tensions, a surge of militant attacks inside Pakistan, and Islamabad’s ongoing statement that the Afghan Taliban are providing sanctuary and support to the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), also known as the Pakistani Taliban, have brought the two neighbors into direct confrontation.
On February 27, Pakistan launched airstrikes targeting Kabul, Kandahar, and Paktia of Afghanistan, the action as a response to a surge in deadly attacks carried out by the TTP inside Pakistan. Pakistan alleges that these attacks, including an attack on a Shia mosque in Islamabad earlier in February, were supported by the Afghan Taliban in Afghanistan.
This latest escalation did not emerge suddenly. Rather, it is the culmination of tensions that have been building for several years, particularly since the return of the Taliban to power in Kabul in August 2021.
The relationship between the Afghan Taliban and the TTP is rooted in shared ideology, historical cooperation, similar organizational structure, and personal networks forged during decades of conflict. The TTP has often been described as the “Pakistan wing” of the broader Taliban movement.
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