With the passage of time, friendly and neighbourly relations between Pakistan and Afghanistan have been deteriorating. The main reason has been the terrorist activities of the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan, which has taken refuge in the eastern part of Afghanistan and continues to cross the border to harm Pakistan’s security forces.

On 20 December, operatives of the TTP attacked a check post in Makeen, South Waziristan, and martyred around 16 personnel of the Pakistan Army. This unprovoked act was highly regrettable. The attack was not the first of its kind but part of a series of assaults targeting army personnel.

Pakistan ran out of patience. On 24 December, Pakistan responded in two ways. First, Pakistan launched an intelligence-based operation in South Waziristan to eliminate more than a dozen terrorists, referred to as “Khwarij” (outcasts). Second, Pakistan’s fighter jets bombed four different locations in Afghanistan’s eastern Paktika province, killing several suspected terrorists. This was an intelligence-based operation targeting TTP camps in the Murgha and Laman areas of the Bernal district. Afghanistan’s Ministry of Defence claimed that the dead and injured included women and children and warned that Afghanistan would retaliate for this act of incursion.

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Pakistan could no longer restrain itself from chasing the TTP operatives into Afghanistan. The hot pursuit sent a clear message that seeking refuge in Afghanistan and creating havoc in Pakistan would no longer........

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