Border war with Afghanistan: Pakistan is escalating again in the Hindu Kush

On Thursday night, Pakistan bombed targets in Afghanistan for the third time in almost two weeks. According to the Ministry of Information in Islamabad, the attacks targeted two “terrorist camps” of the Taliban Movement of Pakistan (TTP). At least 22 “militants” are said to have been killed and large quantities of weapons and ammunition destroyed. “Maximum precautionary measures” were taken to avoid “collateral damage”.

The Afghan Interior Ministry of the Taliban regime in Kabul confirmed air strikes on the provinces of Helmand in the south and Kunar in the east of the country, but spoke only of civilian casualties. A total of nine people were killed and eleven others injured.

The AFP news agency quotes a villager in Helmand: "There were children, women; they killed them. There is no military or anything else here." In Kunar, a woman was rescued from the rubble of a destroyed house, according to AFP. Her husband and four children were later found dead there.

Pakistan accuses the Afghan Taliban regime of failing to take effective action against armed groups such as the TTP, which attack security forces and civilians in Pakistan. Kabul denies any connection to these groups.

The fighting escalated dramatically last October and again in February when Islamabad declared it was in “open war” with Afghanistan after several attacks allegedly by the TTP and other groups. According to the UN, over 500 Afghan civilians died in October 2025 alone.

Since 2014, around 12,000 Pakistani refugees have been living in Afghanistan, most of them in the Gulan camp in the southeastern province of Khost. This was attacked by Pakistan at the end of September. TTP fighters can also go into hiding there.

Islamabad has now announced that the campaign against “the threat of terrorism sponsored and supported by foreign forces” from the neighboring country will continue. There have been no negotiations since March. At that time, attempts at mediation by China and previously by Saudi Arabia and Turkey failed.

Pakistan is also apparently supporting opposition and armed Afghan groups again. On Thursday, the Taliban Defense Ministry said "operations against militants who entered Kamdesh district in the eastern Nuristan province with Pakistani support" had been completed. 41 attackers were killed and 62 others were captured.

"Pakistani militias and auxiliary troops as well as rebels from the 'Islamic State' (IS) were also on site," it said. Media close to the Taliban spoke of 400 attackers. However, all figures should be viewed with caution. Videos of prisoners circulated on social media. Pakistan, however, denied any involvement.

Last weekend, Afghan exile media reported that fighters from the Afghan Freedom Front (AFF) had taken over Taliban police posts in Kamdesh and that the Taliban had launched a counterattack. AFF claimed in online media that its commandos had “liberated from Taliban control” parts of Kamdesh in Nuristan and the neighboring Nari district in Kunar, killing 37 Taliban and injuring 24 others.

The AFF is one of several anti-Taliban armed groups. It was founded in March 2022 by Afghan ex-Chief of General Staff Yassin Sia. It includes former members of the elite troops trained by the USA.

Pakistan also hosted meetings of the Afghan civil opposition, including sections of the women's movement. Other Taliban opponents condemned this cooperation. Former Deputy Defense Minister Tamin Asey, for example, accused them of allowing themselves to be used by Pakistan “for media and political purposes”.