As tensions in the Middle East surrounding Iran rise, another armed clash is intensifying along its borderlands. Afghanistan and Pakistan are trading airstrikes and shelling in the border region, with civilian casualties mounting rapidly.
Starting on the 26th of last month (local time), Pakistan's large-scale airstrikes turned the Afghan border area into a scene of chaos. According to a United Nations (UN) report, the Pakistani military indiscriminately hit not only military facilities but also more than 20 residential and medical facilities. At least 75 civilians were killed and about 115,000 people were displaced.
Basgul, an Afghan woman who escaped the scene, told the New York Times (NYT), "Bullets poured down like rain," recounting the terror at the time. Ismail Ahmadzai, who evacuated his father with a disability in a one-wheeled cart, said, "When my father asked, 'Where are we going?,' I had no choice but to answer that the war had begun and we had to leave," testifying to the horrific situation.
Relations between the two countries, once called "brother nations," deteriorated this far after the Taliban returned to power in 2021. Pakistan's intelligence authorities, which had supported the Afghan Taliban in the past to keep India in check, have now reversed their stance 180 degrees. Pakistan accuses the Afghan Taliban of providing safe haven to the Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), an armed group that carries out terrorism in the country. The Afghan side denies this and is responding with drones and mortars, calling Pakistan's airstrikes a clear violation of sovereignty.
The TTP, which ignited the clash, is an extremist group that aims to overthrow the Pakistani government and impose strict Islamic law (sharia) rule. It is a separate organization from the Afghan Taliban but is known to share ideological alignment and have worked closely together.
Recently, Pakistan expanded the scope of its airstrikes to near Kandahar, where Afghan leader Sheikh Hibatullah Akhundzada resides. According to major foreign media, on the 15th (local time) the Pakistani government said it carried out airstrikes on Afghan military facilities in the southern Afghan region of Kandahar. The Pakistani government said it shot down two Afghan drones near its capital and warned that "strikes on civilian areas are an unacceptable red line." In response, thousands of young people poured into the streets of Kabul to denounce Pakistan's military and vow retaliation, with calls for revenge growing.
Experts warn that if the clash between nuclear-armed Pakistan and the Afghan Taliban, hardened by decades of guerrilla warfare, drags on, the security landscape of all Central Asia could be shaken.