Pakistan’s “open war” on Afghanistan only strengthens the Taliban

This story is published in collaboration with Zan Times.

On the night of 16 March, powerful explosions rocked Kabul. Pakistan said it had “successfully carried out precision airstrikes” targeting “Afghan Taliban regime terrorism-sponsoring military installations in Kabul and Nangarhar”. Attaullah Tarar, Pakistan’s minister for information and broadcasting, also said that the strikes targeted infrastructure belonging to “terror proxies”, including the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) – the Pakistani Taliban. 

Across the border, it was a different story. Taliban spokespersons said the strike hit a drug rehabilitation centre and hospital; the toll in lives is still unclear. Reporters at the scene counted at least 30 bodies recovered from the rubble. The Taliban’s deputy spokesperson, Hamdullah Fitrat, has said the toll was far higher, with around 400 reportedly dead and 250 wounded.  Forensic laboratory technicians have reported over 100 deaths. 

This latest attack adds to the growing human and humanitarian toll of what Pakistan, in late February, declared to be an “open war” on Afghanistan. Cross-border strikes have displaced thousands of families and killed or wounded uncounted numbers of civilians along the countries’ shared frontier. Meanwhile, Pakistan has continued its brutal drive to deport Afghan refugees, many of whom have lived in the country for decades and have little or nothing to go back to in Afghanistan.

Since the Taliban returned to power in Kabul more than four years ago, military confrontations between the two neighbours have become a regular occurrence. The central point of contention is Pakistan’s accusation that the Afghan Taliban are providing sanctuary to TTP militants inside Afghanistan, allowing them to organise in safety and launch attacks against Pakistani targets.  Pakistan has seen a brutal spike in TTP attacks in recent years.

During failed peace talks between Pakistan and Afghanistan in Istanbul in November 2025, and even during previous rounds of negotiations, Islamabad has continued to demand that the Afghan Taliban take military action against the TTP. The Taliban rejected the demand, insisting that no TTP militants operate from Afghan territory. Members of the Taliban delegation revealed that Pakistan also asked for a religious fatwa declaring war inside Pakistan impermissible.