New Delhi, Oct 12 (IANS) In a sudden retaliation, beginning late Saturday, Afghanistan’s Taliban forces have reportedly inflicted severe casualties on Pakistan’s border posts along the Durand Line.

Simmering tensions had led to several skirmishes along the disputed line, leading to intermittent closure of the border, thus affecting one of its major transit points, especially of trade, for the landlocked country.

The skirmishes escalated into a coordinated firefight following Islamabad’s sudden surge in bombing Afghan cities, including the capital Kabul, this week.

It coincided with the visit of Afghanistan’s Foreign Minister Amir Khan Muttaqi to India.

Following his diplomatic and trade talks with India’s Foreign Minister S. Jaishankar, a joint statement was released, which, much to Pakistan’s chagrin, reiterated the fact that Jammu and Kashmir is a part of India.

In the official statement on October 10, Jaishankar thanked Afghanistan for the strong condemnation of the April 22 terrorist attack in Pahalgam that claimed 26 lives.

Islamabad also saw red in Muttaqi’s views that terrorism is an internal issue of Pakistan.

An infuriated Defence Minister Khawaja Asif warned that his country reserves the right to enter Afghan territory against groups he alleged were targeting Pakistan.

Kabul has consistently rejected the allegation, claiming that Afghan territory will not be used against any country, especially its neighbours.

Afghanistan’s Ministry of Defence had previously warned Pakistan over the violation of Kabul’s airspace and earlier airstrikes on Paktika.

Pakistan’s Foreign Ministry has avoided directly confirming recent strikes in Afghanistan’s capital, Kabul, but said the operations were part of “legitimate counterterrorism measures” targeting militants based across the border, according to Khaama News.

Pakistan airstrikes were reportedly targeting Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) hideouts, and were said to be aimed at eliminating one of its leaders, Noor Wali Mehsud.

Early on Sunday, a few hours into the Taliban attack, former US Ambassador to Afghanistan and Iraq, Zalmay Khalilzad, posted on Social Media X: “Today’s intense fighting was initiated by #Afghanistan in response to Pakistan’s air strikes earlier in the week. The objectives of the broad ground attacks appear to have been retaliation and deterrence. #Afghanistan #Pakistan”.

Two days earlier, the former diplomat, who brokered the 2020 US-Taliban peace agreement, had posted: “The Pakistanis have been recklessly backing ISIS operatives against Afghanistan and their own Baluch nationalist insurgency”, adding: “Military escaltion between #Pakistan and #Afghanistan is not the answer. It is unlikely to work and will increase death and destruction in both countries”.

He called for negotiations between Kabul and Islamabad to deal with the terrorist sanctuaries on both sides of the Durand line, ending with tagging “#USA”.

Pakistan is facing a multifaceted crisis that threatens its internal stability and regional security. Late Saturday’s escalation in the border region has added to the woes of a federal government already grappling with several eco-political-diplomatic hiccups.

Islamabad is already beleaguered with simmering insurgency in Balochistan and Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK), fatal clashes in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, resurgence of Islamist hardliners, and an economic problem, plunging the country into volatility. Pakistan now finds itself enmeshed in its own follies for creating and nurturing various militia groups for spreading instability and terror in the neighbourhood.

–IANS

jb/vd