Why the TTP Remains the Central Fault Line Between Pakistan and Afghanistan — The Diplomat

On October 11, Pakistan’s military reported that security forces had killed 12 militants and Afghan Taliban personnel during an attempted crossing from Afghanistan into Pakistan’s Kurram district. A Pakistani soldier was also killed in the exchange of fire. The Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR), the military’s media wing, said Afghan Taliban border posts had opened fire in support of the attempted crossing. The incident came 10 days after Pakistani airstrikes in Afghanistan, which Islamabad said targeted militant camps and hideouts. Pakistan reported that the strikes killed 22 militants. At the same time, the United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA) confirmed that at least 10 civilians, most of them children, were killed and nine injured in Kunar and Helmand provinces. The U.N. mission called for de-escalation and greater protection of civilians, underscoring the humanitarian risks of continued cross-border hostilities. These incidents reflect a wider deterioration in Afghanistan-Pakistan relations, driven in part by Islamabad’s concerns about militant groups operating from Afghan territory. On September 18, a suicide car bombing at a mosque inside the Kohat Police Lines complex in Pakistan’s Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, followed by an armed assault, killed at least 31 people, including 16 police personnel, and injured more than 100, according to local police officials. Ittehadul Mujahideen Pakistan (IMP), a militant alliance linked to the Hafiz Gul Bahadur faction, claimed…