Global Watch | Pakistan’s Failed Afghan Policy And The Return Of Blowback |
For decades, Pakistan’s military leadership claimed with certainty that it had complete control over the western frontier. The claim was based on the assumption that Pakistan’s influence and command over the Taliban in Afghanistan was unchallenged and unparalleled. By 2025, this narrative has fallen apart.
The current situation between Pakistan and Afghanistan goes much beyond a temporary diplomatic disagreement or mere miscommunication. It marks a critical turning point. Hostilities have escalated, bilateral confidence has disintegrated, and ordinary people living near the border are suffering the consequences of choices Pakistan’s establishment made for decades.
Pakistan today portrays itself as a besieged victim of terrorism emanating from Afghanistan. Yet this narrative omits an uncomfortable truth: Pakistan is confronting the consequences of its own long-standing choices. The very terrorism it once nurtured, tolerated, or strategically exploited in Afghanistan is now striking back inside Pakistan. Instead of reflection, Islamabad has responded with expulsions, bombs, and denial—deepening human suffering and regional instability.
By 2025, the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan has reasserted itself as one of the deadliest terrorist forces operating in South Asia. Attacks across Pakistan’s northwest and major cities have become frequent and brutal. Soldiers are ambushed at checkpoints. Police convoys are hit by suicide bombers. Markets and mosques have turned into scenes of grief. Families bury sons in uniform while officials offer the same rehearsed condemnations. Pakistan’s leadership insists that the TTP operates freely from Afghan territory, using it as a rear base to plan and launch attacks.
There is little doubt that many TTP commanders and fighters are indeed present across the border. Afghan soil has become a sanctuary not because of geography alone, but........