THE predawn silence of February 22, 2026, was shattered as Pakistani fighter jets launched a series of “intelligence-based” airstrikes into the Afghan provinces of Nangarhar and Paktika.

This military operation marks a definitive turning point in the already fractured relationship between Islamabad and the Taliban-led government in Kabul. What began as a series of border skirmishes has now evolved into a high-stakes confrontation that threatens to redefine the security architecture of South Asia. The immediate trigger for the strikes was the horrific February 6 suicide bombing at a Shia Mosque in Islamabad, which claimed the lives of 31 worshippers. For Pakistan, this was the final straw in a wave of violence orchestrated by the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), often referred to by state authorities as Fitna al-Khawarij........

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