PAKISTAN-AFGHANISTAN-TALIBAN BORDER ATTACK: WAR IMMINENT
- Michael Thervil
- 2 days ago
- 4 min read
Written by Michael Thervil
[Pakistan Afghanistan Taliban border attack] Cross boarder attacks between Pakistan and Afghanistan have resulted in a suicide car bombing executed by the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan “TTP” (Pakistani Taliban) against a security compound in the north Waziristan city of Mir Ali in the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province. This suicide car bombing led to the killing seven Pakistani soldiers. In response, the Pakistani military executed drone strikes within the southeastern region of Afghanistan (Paktika) adjacent to the northwestern region of Pakistan. According to the Pakistani military the target was linked to the TTP. The border clashes between the two former allies have left an estimated 10 people killed and led to a civilian home being caught in the middle and destroyed in a Kandahar village.
It was also reported by the Pakistani police that three Afghanistan Taliban fighters were killed during a gunfight along the border. Currently the number of deaths and those injured from both sides are uncertain but what is known is that at least 425 people were wounded in Afghanistan, and 37 civilians were killed during the fighting that ensued over a week. The Taliban have accused Pakistan of violating the 48-hour ceasefire that started on Wednesday at 1:00pm and is set to end today at 6pm. This is due to claims of Pakistan bombing three locations in the Paktika province which led to the death of 10 people and 12 others severely wounded. These actions come just before talks of extending the 48-hour ceasefire in the city of Doha, Qatar tomorrow (Saturday).
It should be reported that the Pakistan Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) are making the claim that India has supported and aided 34 TTP terrorists. Pakistani authorities are claiming that they have destroyed several Taliban outposts within the Chaman sector this week. With the temperature of war between both the two nations and the two Taliban factions heating up and the Taliban (Afghanistan) threatening to militarily engage Pakistan by directly crossing what is known as the “Durand Line”, the Pakistani Minister of Defense Khawaja Asif has issued a warning that all Afghans residing in Pakistan should return back to Afghanistan as diplomatic ties between the two nations have come to an end at the moment. He also accused the Taliban (Afghanistan) of allowing itself to be used as “an Indian proxy” and "plotting" against Pakistan, a statement which he later toned down.
These statements come at a time when the Taliban government (Afghanistan) issued orders for its security forces to not engage Pakistan unless Pakistan attacks first.
OUR POSITION AT VEDA WORLD NEWS
The question that needs to be asked is why now? With both Pakistan and Afghanistan being former allies of each other, one can't help but wonder why friction between the two countries are happening now. Do the claims of Pakistani Minister of Defense Khawaja Asif have any truth to them? It's been noted that India has been a supporter of Afghanistan in more ways than one. This can be seen by India providing aid to the tune of roughly $650–750 million and strengthening diplomatic ties with the Afghanistan Taliban government. While Indian officials will deny that they haven't provided the Afghanistan Taliban government any hard currency but instead have provided them aid through agricultural, infrastructure, and medical means. This doesn’t mean that other arrangements may have been made between the two entities under the table.
In contrast, geopolitical pundits will also make the case that the claims made by Pakistani Minister of Defense Khawaja Asif are nothing more than a way to shift blame and attention away from the fact that Pakistan as a country has found itself trapped in the midst of three-body problem that it can't solve or provide a solution to. The reason why this statement can be made is because Pakistan is on the brink of falling victim to economic and international collapse, civil unrest, and the military pressure from the Taliban (Afghanistan). Thus, it needs a "Boogieman" to blame.
The situation between the two countries is a complex one with multi-faced reasons as to why the two countries are finding themselves in their current positions. But with Pakistan being one of the American largest exporters of terrorism, it's safe to say that Pakistan knows a thing or two about how one could be used as a proxy to service the agendas of others. But then again why would the Afghanistan Taliban outright engage in any behavior that would cause the Pakistani government or the Pakistani Taliban to break their long-standing diplomatic relationship with them; especially when America pays them an estimated $40 million a week in restitution.
From our perspective, The real question that should be asked is:
"Can the three-sided fighting between the Pakistan military, Pakistan Taliban and Afghanistan be chalked up to nothing more than in fighting between the Pakistan Taliban and Afghanistan Taliban that pulled the Pakistan government into the mix?