Pakistan’s Escalating Response to Cross-Border Terrorism — The Diplomat

Tensions are on the rise between Pakistan and Afghanistan once again as both countries have traded fire as well as accusations over the past few days. The current flare-up is a direct consequence of a terrorist attack on a mosque in the north-western Pakistani town of Kohat on September 18, in which at least 31 people, including 16 police personnel, were killed and over 100 injured. After neutralizing the attackers after an hours-long gun battle, Pakistan launched retaliatory airstrikes against the alleged positions of the Hafiz Gul Bahadur-led Ittehad ul Mujahideen Pakistan (IMP), which had claimed responsibility for the attack, and its ideological ally, the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), in Paktika and Kunar provinces of Afghanistan on September 21. Pakistan claimed to have killed 28 terrorists in those strikes. Instead of engaging Pakistan’s border posts with machine guns and mortars like in most previous instances, the Taliban government of Afghanistan launched drones against Pakistan from its territory in the early hours of September 23. Eight of the drones were downed by Pakistan’s air defenses, according to Pakistani authorities. The Afghan drone incursions did not cause any casualties or damage to civilian or military infrastructure in Pakistan; the spokesperson for the Pakistani president dismissed them as unfrightening “flying toys.” Even so, Islamabad conducted fresh air raids in Afghanistan, targeting 10 different locations…