Rare Pakistan airstrikes on Taliban show tension after US exit

Rare Pakistani airstrike in Afghanistan during the weekend which killed more than 40 civilians showed tensions with the Taliban after the US withdrawal from the region.

Cross-border strike Saturday, the first in a few decades, raises an extraordinary sharp response from militant groups in Kabul and warnings that more attacks will arouse retaliation. The Pakistani Ministry of Foreign Affairs only claims that it clashed with Pakistani Tehreek-e-Taliban members, an off-shoot group known as TTP which operates across the border between the two countries.

While before Pakistan will share intelligence on a guerrilla with the troops A.S. In Afghanistan, who then targeted them with a drone attack, now Islamabad depends on the Taliban to hunt them, said Dad Gul, a research director at Pakistani conflict and security institutions.

Pakistan seems to be frustrated and now has used extreme steps like that,” he said. “Taliban are also frustrated due to lack of international recognition, especially from Pakistan.”

The spat shows complex bonds between neighbors, which share porous land borders stretching more than 1,600 miles (2,575 kilometers). While Pakistan for years has become home to major Taliban members and even Osama bin Laden before he was killed by A.S. The country has simultaneously fighting militants at TTP who want to build Islamic Caliphives in Islamabad.

The deadly attack in Pakistan has increased to the highest level in more than four years after the troops A.S. Leaving Afghanistan and the Taliban took power. Last week the Pakistani military convoy was ambushed near the border in North Waziristan, with seven soldiers and four attackers were killed in battle weapons.

However, when air strikes raised eyebrows: they occurred just days after Shehbaz Sharif took over as prime minister and vowed to improve relations with the US and Europe. The predecessors, Imran Khan, have mastered a closer bond with Russia, China and Taliban, by saying militant groups have “violated the bondage of slavery” after it invaded Kabul and forced AHT.

In a statement on Sunday, the Pakistani Ministry of Foreign Affairs did not immediately recognize air strikes but said that the attack from Afghanistan had been significantly spiked and Islamabad had been repeatedly asked” over the past few months that the Taliban secured the border region. “Terrorists use Afghan land with impunity to carry out activities in Pakistan,” the statement added.

The Taliban called Pakistani ambassador in Kabul, Mansoor Ahmad Khan, to protest the attack. The attack prompted hundreds of angry civilians in the Province of Northeast Khost to March and anti-Pakistani slogan songs.

Apart from hostility, it is impossible for tensions to increase further, according to Rustam Shah Mohmand, the former Pakistani ambassador to Afghanistan. However, he added, the Taliban leaders might try to reduce Afghanistan’s dependence on Pakistan and will continue to oppose the border fence that contributes to tension.

About Author