Overnight, the Pakistan–Afghanistan standoff edged closer to open conflict. Following Sunday’s strikes on TTP targets, Taliban forces launched cross-border attacks, and Pakistan responded with hits on Taliban military installations in Kabul and Kandahar. The crisis has moved beyond border skirmishes into direct military exchange.

The immediate backdrop is a series of deadly terrorist attacks inside Pakistan this month. A suicide bombing at a Shia mosque in Islamabad killed at least 32 worshippers. Days later, a vehicle-borne attack in Bajaur killed 11 soldiers. On 21 February, a suicide bomber struck a security convoy in Bannu, killing two soldiers, including a lieutenant colonel. Islamabad attributed the Bajaur and Bannu attacks to TTP hideouts and asserted links to leadership nodes based in eastern Afghanistan. The mosque bombing was claimed by ISKP, though Pakistani authorities stated that the bomber had travelled repeatedly to Afghanistan.

These incidents came after a year in which violence had already surged. In 2025, Pakistan recorded its deadliest year of terrorism in nearly a decade, with hundreds of security personnel and civilians killed. Many of the attacks were traced to TTP networks operating from Afghan soil. It was during that surge that Islamabad publicly adopted a reprisals approach: major attacks linked to cross-border terrorist sanctuaries would invite a direct response.

The strikes this week are therefore not a sudden departure but the continuation of that declared policy. Last Sunday’s air operations in Nangarhar, Paktika and Khost were described as intelligence-based action against TTP and ISKP camps. The Taliban responded with heavy cross-border fire near Torkham and in sectors opposite Kunar and Nangarhar. By 26–27 February, Pakistan expanded its strikes to Taliban military infrastructure, including installations in Kabul’s Darul Aman area and facilities in Kandahar associated with corps-level formations. The conflict has now shifted from targeting non-state actors to reciprocal state action.

Attempts to stabilise the situation last year did not succeed. Talks following earlier Pakistani strikes collapsed when Kabul refused to provide written guarantees that Afghan territory would not be used for cross-border terrorist attacks against........

© The Friday Times