<\/p>\n
Once lauded as the ‘good Taliban’ for refraining from carrying out attacks against Pakistan’s security forces, Bahadur’s group seems to have joined hands with the TTP to launch attacks in KP.<\/p>\n
Tensions simmering along the Pak-Afghan border have recently erupted into violence yet again, with a familiar player returning to the forefront \u2014 Hafiz Gul Bahadur\u2019s militant group.<\/p>\n
Blamed for the devastating March 16 suicide attack<\/a> on a Pakistani military post in North Waziristan, which claimed the lives of seven soldiers including two officers, the militant group\u2019s actions have sent shockwaves through the region. Meanwhile, Pakistan\u2019s retaliatory airstrikes inside Afghanistan<\/a> on March 18, targeting suspected hideouts of Bahadur\u2019s group, have further strained the already fragile relations with Kabul\u2019s Taliban rulers and raised fears of regional instability.<\/p>\n But beyond the immediate violence lies a story of transformation.<\/p>\n Once lauded as the \u2018good Taliban\u2019 for refraining from carrying out attacks against Pakistan\u2019s security forces, Bahadur\u2019s group finds itself labelled \u2018bad Taliban\u2019 due to its role in the recent terror attacks in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa\u2019s southern region. This dramatic shift sparks a multitude of questions: What drove this transformation? Where does Bahadur\u2019s group fit within Pakistan\u2019s complex militant landscape, dominated by the Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP)? And perhaps most crucially, what factors led the Bahadur-led group to engage in such a dramatic escalation?<\/p>\n Good Taliban gone bad<\/h2>\n