Terror Attack close to India’s border in Pakistan on Sunday is the latest example of the Taliban attempting to expand their influence in South Asia. The Taliban is trying to destabilize regions beyond Afghanistan, regional specialists told National Security Analyst KT McFarland.
Attacks appear to be a reprisal by Taliban groups in Pakistan who have been fighting against the Pakistani military along the Afghan side of the border and say they are taking their fight to the rest of Pakistan,” said Daniel Markey, South Asia senior fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations.
Recent indications recommend that the Taliban is trying to setup extra positions in Pakistan to launch attacks.
According to Jeff Smith, Director of South Asia Programs at the American Foreign Policy Council, Militants and Cells have been flooding into Karachi and they have increasingly been collaborating with anti-India militants, this is something that has been on security experts’ radar.
“This is the first time they have expanded their terrorist reach this deep inside Pakistan and this close to the India border.” He added.
Both countries were accused of trading mortar shells and gunfire across one another’s border In October. Attack by the Taliban comes at the same time when Pakistan-India relations have been strained by increased tension over the disputed Kashmir region.
American officials are concerned any terror attacks near the border could provoke the nuclear-armed countries.
Markey points out Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi “has taken a harder line than his predecessor… saying we’re going to respond to Pakistan, we’re not going to back down.”
Photo Via Daily Surge.
