Taliban's illusion of power and cost of Afghan duplicity

The border skirmishes between Pakistan and Afghanistan, which erupted while Afghan Foreign Minister Amir Khan Muttaqi was on a week-long visit to India, have laid bare the contradictions of Kabul's foreign policy and the fallacy of Taliban control. As the Taliban regime deepens its diplomatic embrace with New Delhi, it simultaneously allows its soil to be used for launching deadly attacks against Pakistan, a country that has long championed Afghanistan's stability, even when the world turned its back.

On the night of October 11–12, 2025, Taliban fighters and affiliated militants launched an unprovoked assault on Pakistani border posts, resulting in the martyrdom of 23 Pakistani soldiers. Pakistan responded with force, killing more than 200 militants, many of whom were linked to the banned Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), a group that continues to find sanctuary in Afghanistan. This attack was not an isolated incident but part of a growing pattern of cross-border terrorism that has intensified since the Taliban's return to power in August 2021.

Pakistan has been ranked the second most-affected country in the Global Terrorism Index (GTI) 2025, with TTP emerging as the world's fastest-growing terrorist organisation, based on a 90% increase in deaths linked to its attacks.

Pakistan has made sincere efforts to engage Kabul constructively. From humanitarian aid to trade facilitation, from border management to regional cooperation, Islamabad has consistently advocated for Afghanistan's integration into the global community. Yet, every time Pakistan has extended a helping hand, Kabul has responded with betrayal. Delegations led by senior Pakistani officials have visited Kabul multiple times since 2022, urging the Taliban to dismantle terror networks. Each time, promises were made, and each time, they were broken.

The Taliban regime's claim that it enjoys cordial relations with all its neighbours except Pakistan is not just misleading, it is historically dishonest. The root of this strained relationship lies in Afghanistan's refusal to recognise the Durand Line, a colonial-era boundary that every other Afghan government has contested but never militarised to this extent. This rejection has become a convenient excuse for harbouring anti-Pakistan elements and justifying cross-border aggression.

What the Taliban call "power" is a façade, a rented throne propped up by foreign sponsors and sustained by chaos. This is not statecraft; it is extortion.

Hence it is time to call the Taliban what they are, a regime, not an interim government. They were not elected, they do not represent the diverse ethnic and political fabric of Afghanistan, and they have shown no intention of forming an inclusive government. Their rule is not governance; it is coercion. Women are flogged, girls are denied education, and dissent is crushed under the guise of religious piety.

Meanwhile, Kabul has become a hub for global terrorism, hosting networks like Al-Qaeda, ISIS-K, TTP, BLA and BLF - all of whom operate with impunity on Afghan soil.

Pakistan, in contrast, has paid a heavy price for its goodwill. Thousands of lives have been lost, border regions have been destabilised, and the dream of regional peace has been repeatedly sabotaged. Yet, Pakistan has exercised restraint not out of weakness, but out of strategic calculation. That restraint, however, is not infinite.

Many experts believe the recent skirmishes point to Pakistan setting a "new normal" to the Taliban - a doctrine of calibrated deterrence where future attacks on Pakistani soil would invite retribution inside Afghanistan.

This shift mirrors the posture India adopted against Pakistan in April, one that Islamabad vocally protested at the time. Yet the irony is not lost: Pakistan, which has long been a proponent of regional stability, is now forced to adopt the very logic it once condemned, simply because Kabul refuses to act responsibly.

Pakistan's message is now unequivocal: friendship cannot be one-sided, and sovereignty cannot be compromised. The Taliban regime must understand that regional peace is not built on rhetoric but on responsibility. If Kabul continues to harbour anti-Pakistan militants while courting global legitimacy, it will find itself increasingly isolated.

The Taliban's growing alignment with India further complicates the picture.

During Muttaqi's visit to New Delhi, India announced the reopening of its embassy in Kabul along with a significant upgrade in bilateral ties. In a joint statement, the Taliban foreign minister went so far as to endorse India's claim over Kashmir, a move that not only undermines Pakistan's core interests but also reveals the Taliban's readiness to serve as a pawn in regional power games.

This alignment is especially troubling given India's documented financial, logistical, technical and tactical support to anti-Pakistan militant groups like TTP and BLA, both of which have carried out deadly attacks on Pakistani soil while enjoying safe haven and operational backing from across the border.

This Indo-Afghan nexus is not new. India has long sought to use Afghan territory to encircle Pakistan, and the Taliban's willingness to play along, despite Pakistan's decades of support, is a betrayal of staggering proportions.

The time for illusions is over. Afghanistan must choose: peace through responsibility by eliminating terror sanctuaries, or destruction through defiance. Pakistan will no longer tolerate the cost of Afghan duplicity.

From the recent attack it seems Pakistan has decided that every attack from Afghan soil will be met with force on Afghan soil. Probably the time has arrived that the Taliban regime understands that sovereignty comes with responsibility and betrayal has consequences.