New Delhi, March 4 -- Families residing along the Pakistan-Afghanistan border are weighing the difficult decision to abandon their homes as intense shelling and explosions mark the seventh consecutive day of cross-border conflict.

The escalation between the former allies has reached its most volatile point in years, following Pakistani airstrikes on several Afghan cities last week. This surge in violence adds further instability to a region already tense due to broader geopolitical strikes involving the US, Israel, and Iran.

Islamabad maintains that its military actions, which have occasionally targeted the Taliban government directly, are necessary to dismantle Afghan support for militants launching attacks into Pakistan.

Conversely, ...