The security landscape along the Durand Line has entered a volatile new phase, defined not by the nuances of diplomacy but by the brutal clarity of kinetic exchange. Following the collapse of the Turkey-Qatar mediated “Istanbul Process” in early November 2025, the region has witnessed a sharp escalation in violence. The narrative emerging from Kabul, painting Pakistan as an unprovoked aggressor, is a calculated deflection. The root cause remains the IAG’s refusal to dismantle the terror sanctuaries that have metastasized on its soil, transforming border districts into launchpads for a war against the Pakistani state.
While Islamabad has maintained a strategic silence regarding the specific operational details of recent airstrikes in Khost and Paktika, the context is undeniable. These events did not occur in a vacuum. They followed a deadly week in which terror sanctuaries in Afghanistan exported violence directly into Pakistan’s capital and military garrisons.
On November 10, a suicide squad armed with US-origin weaponry targeted the Cadet College in Wana. Less than 24 hours later, a suicide bomber devastated the judicial complex in Islamabad, killing 12 civilians. Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi confirmed a chilling detail: both attacks were executed by Afghan nationals. This proves that these terror sanctuaries are not just passive hideouts; they are active recruitment and training hubs exporting fighters across the border.
The Diplomatic Shielding of Terror Sanctuaries
The failure of the Istanbul talks on November 7 was a turning point. Pakistan entered the negotiations with a clear demand: written, verifiable guarantees that Kabul would eliminate the terror sanctuaries hosting the Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) and Jamaat-ul-Ahrar (JuA). The Afghan interim government refused, dismissing the TTP presence as an “internal issue” of Pakistan. This refusal to sign a binding commitment was a diplomatic admission of complicity. Mediation efforts by Türkiye, Saudi Arabia, and Iran are gaining traction. Yet, history suggests a cynical pattern: whenever diplomatic pressure builds on Kabul to address these terror sanctuaries, militant propaganda and violence spike to sabotage the process.
Fabricated Narratives and Human Shields
The subsequent allegations by Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid, claiming Pakistani airstrikes targeted “civilian houses” in Khost and Paktika, fit this pattern of deflection. Blaming Pakistan for strikes on terror sanctuaries is revisionist theatre, Kabul must show credible proof, not recycled photos. Independent fact-checkers and security analysts have repeatedly exposed the use of archival footage from Gaza and Syria to frame fresh incidents in the Afghan border belt. The claim that “civilian houses” were hit ignores a documented reality: the TTP routinely embeds within villages to create civilian shields, a tactic noted by UNAMA and SIGAR. When a compound serves as a munitions depot and a command center, it loses its civilian immunity.
The Kinetic Reality: A One-Sided War
The geography of the alleged strikes tells its own story. The hit zones in Khost–Bermal–Gurbaz overlap precisely with known TTP/JuA facilitation routes identified in UN Monitoring Team reports (2023–24). These reports describe a “permissive environment” where terror sanctuaries flourish with safehouses, weapons transit routes, and training pockets. Since 2021, Pakistan has endured over 1,000 cross-border attacks launched from these very locations.
Kabul’s narrative relies on the world ignoring this context. They ask the international community to express outrage over unverified casualty claims while remaining silent on the suicide bombers sent from terror sanctuaries to kill Pakistani students and judges. But the facts are stubborn. Fresh TTP/JuA infiltration attempts in the western districts have surged in the last 72 hours, utilizing the same corridors that Kabul claims are peaceful.
The End of Strategic Patience
Pakistan’s position is anchored in the right of self-defense under international norms. No state can accept the permanent existence of terror sanctuaries on its border that function as factories for suicide bombers. If Kabul refuses to dismantle the TTP infrastructure and if it continues to block joint verification mechanisms, the logic of “hot pursuit” and preemptive defense becomes unavoidable. The way forward is simple: Joint verification, joint counter-terrorism mechanisms, and written commitments on the elimination of terror sanctuaries. Anything else is merely propaganda designed to protect the architects of regional instability.
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Terror Sanctuaries in Afghanistan: The Strategic Deadlock and the Inevitability of Response
The security landscape along the Durand Line has entered a volatile new phase, defined not by the nuances of diplomacy but by the brutal clarity of kinetic exchange. Following the collapse of the Turkey-Qatar mediated “Istanbul Process” in early November 2025, the region has witnessed a sharp escalation in violence. The narrative emerging from Kabul, painting Pakistan as an unprovoked aggressor, is a calculated deflection. The root cause remains the IAG’s refusal to dismantle the terror sanctuaries that have metastasized on its soil, transforming border districts into launchpads for a war against the Pakistani state.
While Islamabad has maintained a strategic silence regarding the specific operational details of recent airstrikes in Khost and Paktika, the context is undeniable. These events did not occur in a vacuum. They followed a deadly week in which terror sanctuaries in Afghanistan exported violence directly into Pakistan’s capital and military garrisons.
On November 10, a suicide squad armed with US-origin weaponry targeted the Cadet College in Wana. Less than 24 hours later, a suicide bomber devastated the judicial complex in Islamabad, killing 12 civilians. Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi confirmed a chilling detail: both attacks were executed by Afghan nationals. This proves that these terror sanctuaries are not just passive hideouts; they are active recruitment and training hubs exporting fighters across the border.
The Diplomatic Shielding of Terror Sanctuaries
The failure of the Istanbul talks on November 7 was a turning point. Pakistan entered the negotiations with a clear demand: written, verifiable guarantees that Kabul would eliminate the terror sanctuaries hosting the Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) and Jamaat-ul-Ahrar (JuA). The Afghan interim government refused, dismissing the TTP presence as an “internal issue” of Pakistan. This refusal to sign a binding commitment was a diplomatic admission of complicity. Mediation efforts by Türkiye, Saudi Arabia, and Iran are gaining traction. Yet, history suggests a cynical pattern: whenever diplomatic pressure builds on Kabul to address these terror sanctuaries, militant propaganda and violence spike to sabotage the process.
Fabricated Narratives and Human Shields
The subsequent allegations by Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid, claiming Pakistani airstrikes targeted “civilian houses” in Khost and Paktika, fit this pattern of deflection. Blaming Pakistan for strikes on terror sanctuaries is revisionist theatre, Kabul must show credible proof, not recycled photos. Independent fact-checkers and security analysts have repeatedly exposed the use of archival footage from Gaza and Syria to frame fresh incidents in the Afghan border belt. The claim that “civilian houses” were hit ignores a documented reality: the TTP routinely embeds within villages to create civilian shields, a tactic noted by UNAMA and SIGAR. When a compound serves as a munitions depot and a command center, it loses its civilian immunity.
The Kinetic Reality: A One-Sided War
The geography of the alleged strikes tells its own story. The hit zones in Khost–Bermal–Gurbaz overlap precisely with known TTP/JuA facilitation routes identified in UN Monitoring Team reports (2023–24). These reports describe a “permissive environment” where terror sanctuaries flourish with safehouses, weapons transit routes, and training pockets. Since 2021, Pakistan has endured over 1,000 cross-border attacks launched from these very locations.
Kabul’s narrative relies on the world ignoring this context. They ask the international community to express outrage over unverified casualty claims while remaining silent on the suicide bombers sent from terror sanctuaries to kill Pakistani students and judges. But the facts are stubborn. Fresh TTP/JuA infiltration attempts in the western districts have surged in the last 72 hours, utilizing the same corridors that Kabul claims are peaceful.
The End of Strategic Patience
Pakistan’s position is anchored in the right of self-defense under international norms. No state can accept the permanent existence of terror sanctuaries on its border that function as factories for suicide bombers. If Kabul refuses to dismantle the TTP infrastructure and if it continues to block joint verification mechanisms, the logic of “hot pursuit” and preemptive defense becomes unavoidable. The way forward is simple: Joint verification, joint counter-terrorism mechanisms, and written commitments on the elimination of terror sanctuaries. Anything else is merely propaganda designed to protect the architects of regional instability.
News Desk