Taliban Strikes Pakistan With First Airstrike

Afghanistan's Taliban government launched its first confirmed airstrike into Pakistan on June 19, hitting militant hideouts in two Pakistani provinces. The strike escalates a three-week exchange of cross-border attacks over Pakistan's demand that Afghanistan crack down on the TTP—a militant group using Afghan territory to attack inside Pakistan. It represents a shift: the Taliban has moved from defending against Pakistani strikes to mounting offensive operations against a nuclear-armed neighbor.