Pakistan's Airstrikes on Taliban Safe Haven

0:00UK stories making news on February 27th brought to you by NordVPN, fast, reliable, online privacy. Links in the episode description. Pakistan's military has launched airstrikes into Afghanistan and clash with troops along the border, marking a sharp turn after years of hoping the Taliban would be an ally. Islamabad believed the Afghan Taliban were separate from the Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan or TTP, the militants attacking inside Pakistan. But that line has blurred, with the TTP now using Afghan soil as a safe haven for a surge in deadly raids. Earlier this week, Pakistan's defense minister said patients had run out after repeated calls for the Taliban to crack down on, the TTP went ignored. The TTP, weakened before the Taliban's 2021 takeover in Kabul, has roared back, uniting factions and targeting Pakistan's army and police. To push its extreme version of Islam, experts called this classic blowback from Pakistan's

1:00long strategy of backing the Taliban to counter Indian influence in Afghanistan. What started as a bet on, quote, good jihadists, has backfired as former fighters join the TTP now that there's no war inside Afghanistan. Meanwhile, the Taliban denies sheltering attackers and urged talks with the TTP. This response includes not just bombs, but an economic squeeze to pressure Taliban leaders. In turn, the Taliban have retaliated, boosting nationalist fervor and even aiding a secular insurgency in Pakistan's resource rich, Baluchistan. Province, officials say the Taliban act more like militants than a government. Tensions show no sign of easing, with both sides digging in and the border turning into a flashpoint that threatens stability across the region.