Alliance under strain: Pakistan rethinks Taliban ties after attacks

Relations between Pakistan and Afghanistan have reached a new low this week following an uptick in terror attacks on Pakistani soil. 

Two separate suicide attacks in the western cities of Hangu and Mastung claimed the lives of at least 60 people on Sept. 29, and prompted a controversial ultimatum: Pakistan’s caretaker government ordered all unauthorized immigrants, including an estimated 1.7 million Afghans, to leave the country by Nov. 1 or face forced deportation. 

Central to the deterioration of ties between the governments is the relationship, perceived or real, between the Afghan Taliban and the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), colloquially known as the Pakistani Taliban. The militant offshoot emerged