Published on, Sept. 26 -- September 26, 2025 1:57 AM

Balochistan Chief Minister Sarfraz Bugti's charge that militants are receiving "state patronage" across the border in Afghanistan reflects a deepening crisis. His claim that Afghan soil is being used to train and shelter militants who then strike inside Pakistan echoes Islamabad's long-standing security concerns. The urgency is clear: just this month, 19 soldiers fell in two clashes in the northwest (a single week's toll that lays bare the steep price Pakistan continues to pay at its frontiers). For a nation that has already sacrificed so much in the fight against terrorism, frustration is both real and justified.

However, the challenge cannot be understood in purely bilateral terms. ...