In Pakistan we cultivated the Taliban, then turned on them. Now we can only hope they forgive us | Mohammed Hanif

Many of us are gloating at the US retreat, but there is dread in our hearts. We can't forget how the Taliban brought their fight to our mosques and schools

Not too long ago, Pakistan and Afghanistan were called Af-Pak: two countries joined at the hip, doomed to live and die together. You didn't get to choose your neighbours, we were told. Geography, we were taught, was our destiny.

There was a lot of talk about geostrategic significance - which was the Pakistan military's way of saying there were great advantages to be derived from our unfortunate neighbours.