Pakistan-Afghanistan conflict

Why are Pakistan and Afghanistan fighting?

The main dispute is over the Pakistani Taliban, known as the TTP. The TTP ended its ceasefire with Pakistan in November 2022 and has attacked Pakistani soldiers, police and civilians since then. Pakistan says the TTP's leaders and fighters are based in Afghanistan and that the Taliban government lets them operate. A UN Security Council monitoring team reported in February 2026 that the TTP "was accorded greater liberty and support" by the Taliban authorities. The Taliban deny this and call the TTP an internal Pakistani problem. They accuse Pakistan of hosting fighters of Islamic State's local branch. Pakistan denies that.

The border itself is disputed. The Durand Line was agreed in 1893 between British India and Afghanistan's emir, Abdur Rahman Khan. It splits the Pashtun people between the two countries. Pakistan treats it as a settled international border. No Afghan government, including the Taliban, has recognized it. Pakistan began fencing the line in 2017.

The Taliban also object to Pakistan's expulsions of Afghans. Pakistan began expelling undocumented Afghans in November 2023, then holders of Afghan Citizen Cards from April 2025 and registered refugees from September 2025. UNHCR and IOM counted 715,400 Afghans who returned from Pakistan in 2026 up to October 3.

Pakistan was one of three countries that recognized the Taliban's first government in the 1990s. During the US war in Afghanistan, Afghan and US officials accused Pakistan of sheltering Taliban leaders, which Pakistan denied. Relations broke down after the Taliban returned to power in 2021.

How many people have died in the Pakistan-Afghanistan conflict?

No one has counted all the deaths. On the Afghan side, UNAMA, the UN's mission in Afghanistan, documented 499 civilians killed and 1,216 wounded in cross-border violence from October 2025 to June 2026. Air strikes caused 64% of civilian casualties in the first three months of 2026. The deadliest attack was the strike on the Omid addiction treatment hospital in Kabul on March 16, 2026. UNAMA counted at least 269 dead and 122 wounded. The Taliban government said about 400 died. Pakistan's military calls UNAMA's figures baseless and says it targets only militants.

Strikes have gone on since then. Pakistani strikes on Kunar and Helmand early on October 1, 2026 killed at least 10 civilians, most of them children, UNAMA said. Pakistan said it hit militant hideouts.

Each side reports far higher losses for the other. After the clashes of October 11 and 12, 2025, Pakistan's army said 23 of its soldiers died and claimed more than 200 Taliban and allied fighters killed. The Taliban said nine of their fighters died and claimed 58 Pakistani soldiers killed. The Uppsala Conflict Data Program counted 178 deaths in the October 2025 clashes.

Inside Pakistan, the Pak Institute for Peace Studies (PIPS) counted 699 militant attacks in 2025, which killed 1,034 people. On July 31, 2026, Pakistan's military said 819 people had been killed in terrorist attacks so far that year, including 303 soldiers. Pakistan says many of the attackers are based in Afghanistan.

How has the border closure affected trade?

Pakistan closed its border crossings with Afghanistan after the clashes of October 11 and 12, 2025. The main ones, Torkham, Chaman, Kharlachi, Ghulam Khan and Angoor Adda, are still closed to trade. Some crossings open only for Afghans returning from Pakistan.

The Trade Development Authority of Pakistan says trade between the two countries fell 74% in 2025-26, to about $358 million. Afghan goods crossing Pakistan to other countries, mainly India, fell from $454 million in 2024-25 to $7 million. Afghanistan moved its trade to Iran's ports and to Central Asia. In early 2026 the Pakistan Institute of Development Economics estimated that Pakistani exporters were losing about $177 million a month. Pakistani farmers lost a market for potatoes and vegetables.

Pakistan says trade will not return to normal until the Taliban act against militant groups on Afghan soil, and it wants written guarantees. In August 2026 Pakistani media reported that Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi had told business leaders the crossings would reopen. They stayed closed.

How could the Pakistan-Afghanistan conflict end?

Several countries have tried to mediate. Qatar and Turkey brokered a ceasefire in Doha on October 19, 2025. Talks in Istanbul in October and November 2025, and in Riyadh on November 30, ended without a deal on the TTP or the border. Saudi Arabia, Qatar and Turkey asked for the short Eid truce in March 2026. China hosted talks in Urumqi in April 2026. On October 5, 2026, a meeting on Afghanistan in Moscow ended without a joint statement because Pakistan and the Taliban disagreed. Russia then said it could mediate if both sides asked. Pakistan's foreign ministry said it knew of no formal Russian initiative.

The demands have not changed. Pakistan wants written guarantees and action against the TTP. The Taliban want an end to Pakistan's air strikes and say the TTP is Pakistan's own problem. Neither government has changed its position on the Durand Line. On October 24, 2026, The New York Times reported that Pakistani officials had met Afghan groups that oppose the Taliban. Pakistan denied it.

Pakistan's armed forces are much larger. The IISS counts 660,000 active Pakistani troops and 172,000 for the Taliban. The Taliban have about 34 aircraft, many of which may not fly, and no confirmed working air defense. They answer Pakistani air strikes with fire on Pakistani border posts. Pakistan said drones launched from Afghanistan entered its airspace on September 23, 2026. The Taliban denied using drones.