Since October 2025, Pakistan has carried out multiple air strikes in Afghanistan, resulting in large-scale civilian casualties and destruction. The deadliest attack occurred on March 16, 2026, when a drug rehabilitation centre in Kabul was struck, killing 269 civilians and injuring 122, according to United Nations figures.

Amnesty International, in a report released on July 21, 2026, called on Pakistani authorities to explain the strike and urged that it be investigated as a possible war crime.

Pakistan states its operations target the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), accusing the Afghan Taliban of supporting the group. However, the Taliban authorities deny this and insist the insurgency is Pakistan’s internal issue.

The conflict's roots trace back to November 1994, when Sufi Mohammad led an armed uprising in Swat and Malakand to impose Sharia law, marking the first cleric-led campaign of its kind in Pakistan. After the September 11 attacks, the Pakistani military under General Pervez Musharraf publicly joined the "war on terror" under US pressure, while continuing to support select militant groups it deemed useful.

This complex dynamic is reflected in a recent social media post by Pakistan’s former special representative for Afghanistan, Asif Durrani, who warned that the Taliban’s growing ties with India "at the expense of Pakistan’s interests," alongside Afghan territory remaining accessible to armed groups, would cross a Pakistani "red line."

In September 2025, US President Donald Trump expressed Washington’s desire to regain control of Bagram airbase, citing its strategic location near China.

According to the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan, nearly 1,200 tribal elders were killed in North and South Waziristan between 2004 and 2014, highlighting the long-standing violence in the region.

These developments suggest that Pakistan’s military actions in Afghanistan are part of a broader pursuit of strategic dominance beyond solely targeting the TTP insurgency.

Sources