Taliban Strikes Nuclear-Armed Pakistan for First Time

On June 19, Afghanistan's Taliban government launched its first confirmed airstrike into Pakistan, hitting hideouts in two Pakistani provinces. The strike marks a threshold: rather than absorbing cross-border Pakistani airstrikes, the Taliban has now conducted offensive air operations against a nuclear-armed neighbor. The escalation caps three weeks of mutual strikes, rooted in Pakistan's demand that Afghanistan suppress the TTP, a militant group using Afghan soil to launch attacks inside Pakistan.