When states escalate, they are usually clear about their capacity and objectives. The Afghan Taliban, however, appeared to abandon that principle at the Pakistan-Afghanistan border last night, triggering an intense military confrontation — including airstrikes and artillery exchanges — across the Durand Line as well as deep into Afghan territory.

The immediate backdrop of these tensions is not new. Islamabad has for years maintained that the Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), a Pakistani terrorist group affiliated with the Afghan Taliban, operated from Afghan soil because of the official patronage it enjoys there.

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