Pakistan has a penchant for blaming India for hiding its own failures. After the Taliban forces of Afghanistan humiliated Pakistan in a recent border skirmish, the ‘It’s all over the social media’ fame, Pakistani Defence Minister, Khwaja Asif has claimed that the Afghan Taliban are fighting India’s “proxy war”.

Asif also cast doubt on the ceasefire agreement reached between the two neighbours following clashes on the Afghan border. To lend credence to his lies, Khwaja Asif linked Taliban Foreign Minister Amir Khan Muttaqi’s recent six-day visit to India with the Af-Pak border conflict. He alleged that had Muttaqi had “made plans” during his India visit.

While the Afghan Foreign Minister’s first visit to India was intended as a step toward strengthening trade and bilateral relations, Khwaja Asif alleged that it had ulterior motives.

48-hour ceasefire continues in Afghanistan-Pakistan

A 48-hour ceasefire is currently underway between Afghanistan and Pakistan. The ceasefire began at 6 p.m. Islamabad time (1300 GMT), confirmed by both governments, who claimed the other side had requested a halt to the escalating violence.

Pakistan’s Foreign Ministry said both sides would “make sincere efforts to find a positive solution through constructive dialogue” during the ceasefire period. The Taliban government said it had directed its forces to respect the ceasefire ‘unless it is violated by Pakistan.’ The ceasefire comes after a week of fierce fighting along the southern border, where the Taliban targeted Pakistani positions.

Afghanistan accuses Pakistan of supporting the local Islamic State group’s Khorasan wing and aiding its attacks inside Afghan territory. Pakistan, meanwhile, accuses Afghanistan of harbouring the Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP).

While a ceasefire is in effect, tensions are rising between Afghanistan and Pakistan, as Pakistani airstrikes deep inside the Afghan border killed 15 civilians. Earlier, the Taliban had captured Pakistani posts and seized uniforms and weapons from abandoned positions. Trousers were publicly displayed in Afghanistan.

Moreover, Pakistani airstrikes in Kabul and Kandahar killed at least 15 Afghan civilians and injured more than 100. This came after the Taliban retaliated by capturing border posts in Spin-Boldak, a move symbolised by the trousers of Pakistani soldiers who abandoned their posts.

Regarding Afghan forces displaying piles of pants of Pakistani soldiers, Daud Junbish, an Afghan journalist for the BBC, wrote , “Trousers recovered from posts abandoned by the Pakistani army near the Durand Line are on display in Afghanistan’s eastern Nangarhar province.” He shared a photo of Taliban fighters showing off trousers and weapons seized from border posts they fled after a counter-attack. A video of Taliban fighters on a seized Pakistani T-55 tank went viral.

Interestingly, the spectacle of the pants of Pakistani soldiers who fled their posts fearing Afghan fighters reminded people of the iconic “pant-removal ceremony” Indian Army conducted of surrendered Pakistani soldiers after defeating the latter in the war of 1971.

200 people killed in Pakistan-Afghanistan conflict

Over 200 people have been killed so far in the fresh Pakistan-Afghanistan conflict. Last week, Pakistan carried out airstrikes in Afghanistan, targeting camps of the Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP). Afghan Foreign Minister Amir Khan Muttaqi, on his first visit to India, warned Pakistan at the time.

Over the past week, both sides have claimed significant casualties. Reuters reports that Pakistan has killed more than 200 fighters from the Afghan Taliban and its allies, while Afghanistan claims it has killed 58 Pakistani soldiers.

Gplus reported earlier how Pakistan for decades funded, fostered and shielded TTP and other such Islamist outfits to use them as their proxies against India. However, as the tides of time have turned against the Pakistan ‘Aand’ Forces, they have started labelling TTP as Fitna-al-Khawarij and Baloch freedom fighters as Fitna-al-Hindustan.  

The TTP, which Pakistan today calls a proxy for India, is actually fostered by it. The TTP’s roots lie with al-Qaeda, the same al-Qaeda whose leader and terrorist, Osama bin Laden, was sheltered in Pakistan.

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