Drop Site News, 5 March 2026
In this analysis about the Pakistan-Afghan war, AAN’s Thomas Ruttig is quoted with his view on the – for Pakistan – surprising flip in the bilateral relationship between both regimes:
“How much Pakistan’s stance toward the Taliban has shifted is reflected in a statement from its Foreign Ministry last October expressing hope that the Afghan people will one day be liberated and governed by a ‘truly representative government,’” said Thomas Ruttig, a senior Afghanistan researcher and former co-director of the Afghanistan Analysts Network. The conflict also has regional dimensions, Ruttig said: “Minister Khawaja accuses Pakistan’s rival India of supporting TTP and ISIS through Afghanistan and claims the Taliban have turned Afghanistan into ‘a colony of India.’”
Revisions:
This article was last updated on 11 Mar 2026
