RASC News Agency: The Pakistan–Afghanistan border has once again become the epicenter of escalating tension after six Pakistani soldiers, including a senior captain, were killed during a fierce gun battle with Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) militants in the Kurram district. The confrontation, which took place late Wednesday in Doger Kurram, unfolded amid growing Pakistani accusations that the Taliban regime in Kabul has failed or refused to prevent its territory from being used as a launch pad for militant attacks against Pakistan.
According to a statement released by Pakistan’s Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR), the firefight erupted during an “intelligence-based counterterrorism operation” near the border with Afghanistan. The statement confirmed that, alongside the six fallen soldiers, at least seven TTP insurgents were killed. Military operations, the ISPR added, are continuing as part of Operation Azm-e-Istehkam, a campaign intended to purge Pakistan of what it calls “foreign-backed terrorist groups,” including those allegedly supported by the Taliban and Indian intelligence agencies.
The deaths of the soldiers have reignited Islamabad’s long-standing frustration with the Taliban leadership, which, despite repeated promises, continues to offer safe haven to militant factions aligned with the TTP. Analysts note that the Taliban’s reluctance to restrain the group reflects not only ideological affinity but also a broader geopolitical calculus in which the regime uses extremist proxies to exert influence beyond Afghanistan’s borders.
Pakistan’s Defense Minister Khawaja Asif, speaking to Al Arabiya, leveled his strongest accusations yet against the Taliban, claiming that India is now actively using Afghanistani territory under Taliban protection to wage a “limited proxy war” against Pakistan. Asif asserted that intelligence gathered by Pakistani agencies points to a “pattern of collusion” between Indian operatives and Taliban officials.
“The relationship between the Taliban and India is no longer a secret,” Asif said. “New Delhi is exploiting its growing leverage in Kabul to damage Pakistan. The timing of this latest attack, coinciding with Taliban Foreign Minister Amir Khan Muttaqi’s visit to India, is hardly coincidental. There is no doubt that the Taliban have transformed into India’s regional proxy.”
The minister went on to reveal that, during the latest round of peace talks between Pakistani and Taliban delegations in Istanbul, the Taliban side made several verbal assurances to act against the TTP but refused to formalize any written agreement. Islamabad interpreted this hesitation as a deliberate attempt by the Taliban to maintain plausible deniability while continuing to shield militant factions operating under their tacit protection.
Earlier this month, Asif had posted a provocative statement on his X (formerly Twitter) account, writing:
“Pakistan, even without deploying its full military capacity, can annihilate the Taliban regime and send its leaders scurrying back to the caves of Tora Bora.”
The Istanbul negotiations, which represented the fourth formal attempt to reach a counterterrorism framework between the two sides, ended in failure further souring relations between Islamabad and the Taliban regime. Pakistani officials later blamed the breakdown on what they called the Taliban’s “duplicity” and India’s “expanding intelligence footprint” within Afghanistan.
Independent observers say that the Taliban’s calculated silence following Pakistan’s allegations exposes both their deepening isolation and their growing internal fragmentation. The regime’s leadership, dominated by Pashtun hardliners from Kandahar, appears more focused on preserving internal control and financial networks particularly those linked to illicit mining and smuggling than addressing the regional instability their policies have unleashed.
“The Taliban’s governance model is one of denial and diversion,” said a South Asian security analyst in Islamabad. “They refuse to confront the TTP not because they cannot, but because the TTP’s existence serves their political utility—as a bargaining chip in regional diplomacy and as an instrument of intimidation against Pakistan.”
As border violence intensifies and diplomatic channels collapse, Pakistan’s patience appears to be wearing thin. The Taliban’s refusal to cooperate against transnational terrorism has deepened their pariah status in the international community, where their regime is increasingly seen not as a sovereign government but as a destabilizing force one that thrives on chaos, repression, and ideological extremism.
The latest clash in Kurram underscores a grim reality: Afghanistan, under Taliban rule, has become a sanctuary for armed militias, a battlefield for foreign intelligence rivalries, and a breeding ground for regional insecurity. With its economy in ruins, its minorities persecuted, and its women erased from public life, the Taliban’s Afghanistan now faces not just international isolation but the growing risk of implosion from within.
