On November 6, 2025, Pakistan and Afghanistan are scheduled to resume mediated peace talks in Istanbul, Turkey, aimed at extending a recent ceasefire agreement between the two countries. Just weeks earlier, on October 9, Pakistani jets launched strikes on sites in Kabul, the heart of Afghanistan’s capital. These attacks targeted strongholds of the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) but Taliban denies the […]

Islamabad has yet to find a convincing answer to separatist militants. Militant attacks have become routine in Pakistan in recent years. Relentless campaigns by the Balochistan Liberation Army (BLA) and the Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), in particular, have left the country’s security forces in a state of paralysis, unable to effectively respond to the deteriorating security situation. Tight censorship over the […]

Deadly clashes with the Afghan Taliban have put Islamabad in the spotlight, but internal unrest may present a greater risk. In recent weeks, deadly clashes between the Pakistani military and the Afghan Taliban have drawn international attention. Since the Taliban’s return to power in 2021, relations have greatly deteriorated between Islamabad and Kabul, disrupting what had previously been a mutually […]

Whether we are talking about the Strait of Hormuz in the Persian Gulf, the Al-Tanf base in Syria or the Bagram Air Base in Afghanistan, they all share one undeniable quality: immense strategic importance in shaping today’s world order. Not long ago, US President Donald Trump publicly announced that it was time for the United States to take Bagram back. […]

Nearly two weeks after the Doha truce and three busy days of negotiations in Istanbul, the government of Pakistan and the Taliban regime in Afghanistan have failed to conclusively resolve their differences. The failure of negotiations at a moment when South Asia has entered a new normal of violating the sovereignty of neighboring states signifies the growing strategic instability in […]

Islamabad (TDI): Federal Minister for Information and Broadcasting Attaullah Tarar said early Wednesday that the latest round of talks between Islamabad and Kabul in Istanbul had failed to produce a workable solution. He added that Pakistan would continue to take every necessary measure to protect its citizens from terrorism. The discussions followed days of fighting along the Pakistan–Afghanistan border and […]

On October 29, 2025, the United Nations (UN) Special Rapporteur on Human Rights Defenders, Mary Lawlor, expressed concern over the inclusion of several Baloch activists on Pakistan’s terrorist Watchlist under Section 11-EE of the Anti-Terrorism Act (ATA) 1997. In a statement shared on X (formerly Twitter), Lawlor observed that “that more human rights defenders in #Balochistan, including Sabiha Baloch, Shalee […]

Afghanistan’s Taliban government said Thursday that Pakistan had carried out two drone strikes on Kabul the previous day, just before the two neighbors announced a ceasefire following days of fighting that killed dozens in both countries and injured hundreds more. The truce Wednesday brought at least a temporary halt to the deadliest clashes between the neighbors since 2021, when the […]

Escalation comes after Pakistani airstrike in Kabul, with Taliban launching reprisals against military posts Intense clashes erupted along the Pakistan-Afghanistan border on Saturday night, after an attack by the Afghan Taliban on Pakistani military posts led to a heavy exchange of fire and reportedly left dozens of soldiers dead. According to officials, Afghan troops opened fire on Pakistani army posts […]

As Kabul resists action against the Pakistan Taliban in wake of Quetta suicide bomb, Islamabad is left to weigh military strikes and expulsions. When Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif arrived at the military hospital in Bannu in the northwestern province of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan, on September 13, his stoic expression gave way to unmistakable anger. At least 19 soldiers had died […]