Why Taliban’s only hope for peace with Pakistan is renouncing terrorism

The fragile ceasefire between the Taliban and Pakistan has broken, and there is now open war in South Asia. This week has seen a dangerous escalation between the former allies, starting when Pakistan carried out a series of air strikes on what it says were terror “camps and hideouts” in Afghanistan’s border provinces. Pakistan claims it killed 80 militants, whereas the Taliban says villages were hit and 17 civilians were killed. The two have since engaged in a deadly tit-for-tat of ground and... AdvertisementAfghanistanOpinionAsia OpinionChris FitzgeraldOpinion | Why Taliban’s only hope for peace with Pakistan is renouncing terrorismWorking with neighbours to combat terror groups operating in Afghanistan will ensure peace and improve the Taliban’s international standingReading Time:3 minutesWhy you can trust SCMPChris FitzgeraldPublished: 5:30pm, 2 Mar 2026The fragile ceasefire between the Taliban and Pakistan has broken, and there is now open war in South Asia.This week has seen a dangerous escalation between the former allies, starting when Pakistan carried out a series of air strikes on what it says were terror “camps and hideouts” in Afghanistan’s border provinces. Pakistan claims it killed 80 militants, whereas the Taliban says villages were hit and 17 civilians were killed.The two have since engaged in a deadly tit-for-tat of ground and air attacks that have reportedly killed hundreds of Taliban militants and dozens of Pakistani soldiers. This includes air strikes by Pakistan on Kabul and Kandahar, as well as heavy fighting on the Afghanistan-Pakistan border that the Taliban says has resulted in the capture of Pakistani soldiers and several border checkpoints.AdvertisementThe trigger for the latest round in fighting has been a wave of terror attacks in Pakistan by terror group Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP). The group has claimed responsibility for the recent bombing of a mosque in Islamabad that killed 32 people, and has carried out several attacks on civilians and military personnel in Pakistan’s remote Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, which borders Afghanistan.The TTP is a known Taliban affiliate. The two are ideologically linked, sharing a radical interpretation of Islam, and the TTP receives weapons and money from its patrons in Kabul. This has allowed the group to grow in strength and capability to wage an increasingly existential war against Pakistan’s military and government from its bases in Afghanistan.AdvertisementPakistan has a point when it says the Taliban has failed to stop Afghanistan becoming a base for terrorism. According to the Russian Foreign Ministry, there could be as many as 23,000 terrorists based in Afghanistan, including up to 7,000 TTP militants. The consequences have been several terror attacks in Turkey, Iran and Russia by groups operating out of Afghanistan since the Taliban returned to power in 2021.AdvertisementSelect VoiceSelect Speed0.8x0.9x1.0x1.1x1.2x1.5x1.75x00:0000:001.00x