Source Details

{
    "source_type": "extension",
    "content_hash": "a62555fe2e93ffcf135e8c761ca1d8df3496c7664c452b2c1bc5372897fbfca9",
    "submitted_via": "chrome_extension",
    "extension_version": "1.0.18",
    "original_url": "https:\/\/www.reuters.com\/world\/asia-pacific\/what-has-turned-afghan-taliban-pakistan-partners-foes-2026-09-25\/?utm_source=cnn_Global+Briefing&utm_medium=email",
    "parsed_content": "Explainer: What has turned the Afghan Taliban and Pakistan from partners to foes?By Asif ShahzadSeptember 25, 20263:48 AM PDTUpdated September 25, 20260 seconds of 0 secondsVolume 0%\n \n \n \n Next UpAfghanistan and Pakistan have gone from friends to foes. Here's whySubtitle SettingsOffEnglishFont ColorWhiteFont Opacity100%Font Size100%Font Familyknowledge-boldCharacter EdgeNoneEdge ColorBlackBackground ColorBlackBackground Opacity85Window ColorBlackWindow Opacity0%ResetWhiteBlackRedGreenBlueYellowMagentaCyan100%75%50%25%200%175%150%125%100%75%50%ArialCourierGeorgiaImpactLucida ConsoleTahomaTimes New RomanTrebuchet MSVerdanaNoneRaisedDepressedUniformDrop ShadowWhiteBlackRedGreenBlueYellowMagentaCyanWhiteBlackRedGreenBlueYellowMagentaCyan100%75%50%25%0%WhiteBlackRedGreenBlueYellowMagentaCyan100%75%50%25%0%Auto180p1080p720p576p540p480p360p288p180pLoading adLive00:2500:0000:00\u00a0SummaryChinese-mediated talks produced ceasefire in MarchHundreds were killed in clashes this yearAttacks in Pakistan killed at least 30 people last weekPakistan launched air strikes on multiple Afghan targets this weekPakistan initially welcomed Taliban return in 2021ISLAMABAD, September 25 - Pakistan's air force struck 10 locations in Afghanistan on Thursday, its second round of strikes in four days after three months of relative \u200bquiet along the two countries' 2,600-km (1,600-mile) border.Islamabad said it struck militant hideouts in retaliation for drones launched from Afghanistan. Kabul denied sending the drones and \u200csaid the seven Afghan fatalities in strikes this week were all civilians.Make sense of global markets with the Trading Day newsletter. Sign up here.Here is what is driving the latest escalation, and why previous attempts to contain it have failed.WHY HAVE THE FORMER ALLIES TURNED ON EACH OTHER?Islamabad initially viewed the Taliban government as a potential ally when it returned to power in Afghanistan in 2021. Then-Prime Minister Imran Khan applauded the Taliban's return, saying Afghans had \"broken the shackles of slavery.\"Pakistani frustration soon mounted, however, as \u200bmilitants launched widening insurgencies in Pakistan's southwest and northwest.Pakistan has since accused its archrival India and the Taliban-run government in Kabul of providing the militants with funds and \u200bweapons as well as a safe haven in Afghanistan. The Afghan Taliban and the Indian government deny these allegations.Frustration in Islamabad spilled into \u2060cross-border fighting last year when Pakistan carried out an air strike on the Afghan capital Kabul in October, targeting the head of the Pakistani Taliban militant group, Pakistani security officials said \u200bat the time.The Pakistani Taliban, a group that operates separately from the Afghan Taliban that run the government in Kabul, later said their leader survived the strike.Pakistan has also accused the Afghan \u200bTaliban of hosting Baloch insurgents, a secular armed movement seeking independence for the southwestern province of Balochistan.HOW DID PRIOR ESCALATION SPIRALS END?A first ceasefire, signed in Doha in October, soon faltered. Clashes reached a peak in intensity this spring when hundreds were killed in shelling and air strikes.In the deadliest incident, more than 400 people were killed in one of the Pakistani air strikes on Kabul, which the Afghan Taliban said hit a drug \u200brehabilitation centre. Islamabad defended the strikes as having \"precisely targeted military installations and terrorist support infrastructure.\"Chinese-mediated talks produced a ceasefire in March that quelled the fighting but again postponed a resolution of \u200bthe underlying dispute.Item 1 of 2 A member of the Taliban security forces inspects metal debris at the site of a partially damaged house following what Taliban officials say was a Pakistani airstrike in Gurbuz district, Khost province, Afghanistan, September 24, 2026. REUTERS\/Stringer\/File Photo[1\/2]A member of the Taliban security forces inspects metal debris at the site of a partially damaged house following what Taliban officials say was a Pakistani airstrike in Gurbuz district, Khost province, Afghanistan, September 24, 2026. REUTERS\/Stringer\/File Photo Purchase Licensing Rights, opens new tabWHAT TRIGGERED THE LATEST ESCALATION?Nearly three months of relative quiet ended last week with two major militant attacks in northwestern Pakistan, killing at least 30 people, including 15 police officials and 6 soldiers.At \u200cleast 8 \u2060militants, including suicide bombers, killed 24 people, including 15 police officials, at a police facility in northwestern Kohat district last Friday. An Islamist militant group - Shura Ittehad-ul-Mujahideen led by militant commander Hafiz Gul Bahadur - claimed the attack.Two days later, on Sunday, an exchange of fire with militants killed 4 soldiers and 2 officers in adjacent Hangu district.WHAT ARE THE MAIN MILITANT GROUPS IN THE NORTHWEST?Pakistan's widening insurgencies are waged by competing groups with different support bases and ideologies but a common enemy in the Pakistani state.Most recent attacks by militants in northwestern Pakistan have been attributed \u200bto Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), commonly known as the Pakistani \u200bTaliban.It was formed in 2007 by a \u2060group of Islamist outfits from the Pashtun ethnic group operating in northwestern Pakistan, which borders Afghanistan.The TTP was modelled on the Afghan Taliban, the predominantly ethnic Pashtun movement that conquered Afghanistan in the 1990s before being ousted by a US-led invasion in 2001.TTP fighters also fought alongside \u200bthe Afghan Taliban in Afghanistan and sheltered Afghan fighters in Pakistan, forging a close bond over the Afghan Taliban's 20-year insurgency.Pakistan mounted a \u200bseries of military operations \u2060against the TTP on its own soil, with limited success.In recent years, the group's attacks have primarily targeted Pakistani security forces rather than civilians, allowing it to make inroads into local communities.The leader of the Shura Ittehad-ul-Mujahideen group that claimed responsibility for last week's attack in Kohat - Hafiz Gul Bahadur - once hosted al Qaeda and Arab Islamist fighters in the bordering region, said Abdul Basit, an analyst at \u2060Singapore's S. \u200bRajaratnam School of International Studies.The group initially focused attacks on US and NATO forces in Afghanistan, but turned against \u200bPakistan after its military conducted a major offensive around 2015 targeting a safe haven of the group in North Waziristan district, Basit said. That pushed the group's fighters into Afghanistan.The long-term repercussions of that shift are still playing out \u200btoday, said Basit, as Bahadur's group has become \"an umbrella of different militant groups where al Qaeda is the architect and Gul Bahadur is the face.\"Reporting by Asif Shahzad; Editing by Rick NoackOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles., opens new tabSuggested Topics:Asia PacificPurchase Licensing RightsAsif ShahzadThomson ReutersShahzad is an accomplished media professional, with over two decades of experience. He primarily reports out of Pakistan, Afghanistan regions, with a great interest and an extensive knowledge of Asia. He also reports on politics, economy, finance, business, commodities, Islamist militancy, human rights Read Next2 hours agoAsia PacificcategoryNew Zealand Parliament dissolved ahead of tight November vote1 hour agoAsia PacificcategoryPakistani airstrikes on Afghanistan kill nine, Kabul says6 hours agoChinacategoryTrump says he discussed release of political prisoners with Xi18 hours agoAsia PacificcategoryChina carves new military presence in Southeast Asian\u00a0neighbour20 hours agoAsia PacificcategoryShark stranded in South Korean canal draws 600,000 visitors as rescue bid fails14 mins agoTighter New Zealand election race stokes investor fears on policy backflips",
    "published_at": "2026-09-25T12:08:29+00:00",
    "author_name": "Asif Shahzad",
    "site_name": "Reuters",
    "section": "Asia Pacific",
    "publisher": "Thomson Reuters",
    "ai_headline": "Explainer: What has turned the Afghan Taliban and Pakistan from partners to foes?",
    "ai_simplified_title": "Pakistan Strikes Afghanistan After Militant Attacks",
    "ai_excerpt": "Pakistan launched air strikes in Afghanistan after recent militant attacks killed dozens. This escalation follows a period of quiet and previous failed ceasefires, highlighting the deteriorating relationship between the former allies.",
    "ai_subject_tags": [
        "Pakistan",
        "Afghanistan",
        "Taliban",
        "Militancy",
        "Cross-border conflict",
        "Geopolitics",
        "Insurgency",
        "Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan"
    ],
    "ai_context_type": "Analysis",
    "ai_context_details": {
        "tone": "analytical",
        "perspective": "neutral",
        "audience": "general",
        "credibility_indicators": [
            "expert_quotes"
        ]
    },
    "ai_source_vector": null,
    "ai_confidence_score": 0.9999999999999999,
    "ai_extraction_metadata": {
        "extracted_at": "2026-10-01T05:03:32.327635Z",
        "ai_model": "gemini-2.5-flash",
        "extraction_method": "automated",
        "content_length": 7886,
        "metadata_prompt_body_chars": 7886,
        "metadata_prompt_truncated": false,
        "url": "https:\/\/reuters.com\/world\/asia-pacific\/what-has-turned-afghan-taliban-pakistan-partners-foes-2026-09-25",
        "existing_metadata": {
            "author_name": null,
            "published_at": null,
            "domain_name": "reuters.com",
            "site_name": null,
            "section": null,
            "publisher": null
        },
        "openai_refusal_gemini_fallback": false
    }
}

{
    "extracted_at": "2026-10-01T05:03:32.327635Z",
    "ai_model": "gemini-2.5-flash",
    "extraction_method": "automated",
    "content_length": 7886,
    "metadata_prompt_body_chars": 7886,
    "metadata_prompt_truncated": false,
    "url": "https:\/\/reuters.com\/world\/asia-pacific\/what-has-turned-afghan-taliban-pakistan-partners-foes-2026-09-25",
    "existing_metadata": {
        "author_name": null,
        "published_at": null,
        "domain_name": "reuters.com",
        "site_name": null,
        "section": null,
        "publisher": null
    },
    "openai_refusal_gemini_fallback": false
}