More than a decade ago, during a tense visit to Islamabad as US Secretary of State, Hillary Clinton gave Pakistan’s leaders a warning: ‘You can’t keep snakes in your backyard and expect them only to bite your neighbours.’ She was referring to the Taliban and other militant groups that Islamabad had long tolerated as part of its ‘strategic depth’ policy aimed at countering India’s regional dominance.

Now, as Pakistan’s jets strike targets inside Afghanistan and the Taliban mobilise forces along the border, that warning seems like a prophecy.

Pakistan is at war with the militant networks it once cultivated for regional power – with consequences that could redraw the region’s security landscape

Pakistan is at war with the militant networks it once cultivated for regional power – with consequences that could redraw the region’s security landscape

Pakistan is at war with the militant networks it once cultivated for regional power – with consequences that could redraw the region’s security landscape, from Pakistan’s internal stability to the wider balance of power in South Asia.

The Taliban – bankrolled, armed and sheltered by Pakistan’s security establishment during their war against the United States and its Nato allies – are behaving like the snakes Clinton warned might eventually turn on their keeper. Pakistani officials say the immediate trigger for the conflict is the Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), a militant movement ideologically aligned with the Taliban and dedicated to overthrowing the Pakistani state.

Since the Taliban returned to power in Kabul in 2021, Islamabad has, ironically, accused them of allowing........

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