What began as airstrikes by Pakistan on Afghan territory has spiralled into a full-blown military clash, exposing the collapse of Islamabad’s once-vaunted control over the Taliban.

A fierce clash erupted overnight between the militaries of Afghanistan, under the Taliban government, and Pakistan, marking one of the most intense confrontations between the neighboring countries in recent years.

Afghanistan said that the overnight border operations were in response to what it called repeated violations of its territory and airspace by Pakistan. | World News

Pakistan uprooted the Taliban with U.S. help in the 2010s. But the insurgency has resurfaced with assistance from the Afghan Taliban.

Border clashes over the weekend between Afghanistan and Pakistan led to the deaths of dozens of soldiers, the most serious clash between the two countries since the Taliban seized power in Kabul in 2021,

The recent cross-border airstrikes, refugee expulsions, and retaliatory operations reveal how Pakistan’s decades-long proxy strategy has backfired, leaving the border with Afghanistan volatile and regional stability at risk.

As it elevates its relationship with India, Afghanistan’s Taliban government is striking a delicate balance in the region.

The reversal exposes the collapse of Islamabad’s long-standing strategy of using Afghanistan as a buffer against India and highlights its growing loss of control over the very militants it once nurtured.