As Pakistan’s confrontation with the Afghan Taliban spirals into what Islamabad calls “open war,” US President Donald Trump has effectively thrown America’s weight behind ally Pakistan, praising Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and Army chief Asim Munir as they unleash air and artillery strikes on Taliban targets in Kabul and across eastern Afghanistan. The escalating clash, driven by Pakistan’s accusations that the Taliban are sheltering anti-Pakistan militants and by Taliban drone and ground retaliation, now risks dragging in powerful regional stakeholders, including Iran’s clerical leadership under Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, which has cultivated ties with the Afghan Taliban and fears wider destabilization along its turbulent eastern frontier.
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