From the U.K. Guardian,
Heavy clashes erupt along Pakistan-Afghanistan border:
Escalation comes after Pakistani airstrike in Kabul, with Taliban launching reprisals against military posts.
This seems like it should be a big deal, but I haven’t seen much news coverage of it. The who, what, when, and where all seem clear enough. But I’m still shaky on the why. The Guardian reports,
While Islamabad has not explicitly claimed responsibility for the attacks, it has called on Kabul to cease harbouring the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), which is accused of killing hundreds of Pakistani soldiers since 2021 and is believed to have received combat training in Afghanistan, sharing ideological ties with the Afghan Taliban.
In my late middle age, I heard for the first time a theory around the star and crescent. The Pakistan flag includes those symbols against a green background, as do many countries in that region.
The star and crescent featured in the flag of the late Ottoman Empire. The theory goes that the star and crescent were associated with the original city of Byzantium, later renamed Constantinople (the present Istanbul).
In adopting the symbols, the Ottomans were laying claim to be the successors of the Roman Empire, after capturing its final capitol in 1453. It’s a theory.
As for the recent battle, Joe Biden’s premature abandonment of Afghanistan in 2021 left an estimated $24 billion of military equipment of all types. We’ll now see how good the Taliban are in utilizing it.
As for me, I can’t pick a side, so I wish them both all the luck in the world as they press ahead.
