The decades-long Pak Army gamble of fostering and shielding the Taliban is now exploding in Islamabad’s face, as fresh clashes erupted at the Torkham border crossing. New footage emerging from March 5 suggests that the Taliban targeted a Pak Army outpost north of Torkham Gate, likely using a mortar strike. Smoke rising from a mountain peak, analyzed through geolocation, points to a direct hit on a Paki establishment’s position.
A Taliban fighter, Ibrahim Wazirwal from Khogyano, Nangarhar, was killed in cross-border firing between Pak and Afghan forces. The Paki establishment, which played godfather to the Taliban for decades, now finds itself at war with its own former proxies—a classic case of terror blowback.
Sporadic skirmishes between Taliban militants and Pak border guards continue near Torkham, with both sides using heavy weaponry. Local report widespread panic among residents as rockets and shells landed on residential homes, causing significant property damage. The clashes, which erupted around 2:30 a.m. Kabul time on March 3, have left at least three Pak personnel wounded and killed a truck driver caught in the crossfire.
The Torkham crossing, a crucial trade and transit point, has remained closed for the past 10 days. Pak officials claim that the Taliban’s construction of outposts and border infrastructure is the reason for the shutdown, but Islamabad’s concerns come across as hypocritical. After all, it was Pakistan’s military-intelligence complex that enabled the Taliban’s resurgence, hoping to use them as a strategic tool in Afghanistan. Now, with the Taliban asserting themselves and rejecting Pakistan’s diktats, Islamabad is facing the inevitable consequences of its reckless policies.