IN August 2021, soon after the Afghan Taliban dramatically swept to power and overthrew the US-installed regime, Pakistan’s then spy master, Lt Gen Faiz Hameed, was sipping tea in one of Kabul’s fanciest hotels.

Our military and political pundits were delighted, considering it a huge strategic triumph and a win-win situation for Islamabad, believing that calm would prevail on Pakistan’s western flank.

Pakistan had also reopened two main land border crossings with Afghanistan at Torkham and Chaman. However, Pakistan’s political pundits and military strategists had miscalculated and misread the Taliban. The Taliban and Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan’s close embrace radiates insecurity and instability in Pakistan, especially in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa and Balochistan. It is their common ideology and geostrategic interests that force........

© Pakistan Observer