Experts Explain | Afghanistan-Pakistan War: How Pakistan’s strateg… became its greatest threat | Explained News - The Indian

Express 20/03/26, 1:21 PM

JOURNALISM OF COURAGE

Experts Explain |
Afghanistan-Pakistan War:
How Pakistan’s strategic
assets became its greatest
threat
Pakistan claims the TTP has received safe shelter in Afghanistan, prompting it to
conduct military operations there. Not long ago, the Taliban leadership found
refuge in Pakistan, with then-PM Imran Khan praising the Taliban's return to
Afghanistan in 2021

9 min read New Delhi Mar 20, 2026 11:46 AM IST

[Link] Page 1 of 7
Experts Explain | Afghanistan-Pakistan War: How Pakistan’s strateg… became its greatest threat | Explained News - The Indian Express 20/03/26, 1:21 PM

A Taliban <ghter stands on top of the outer security wall surrounding Bagram Air Base, a former US military base,
in Bagram, Afghanistan, Dec. 5, 2021. (NYT File)

Make us preferred source on Google

Written by Dhananjay Tripathi and Tabshir Shams

Even as the crisis in West Asia continues to unfold, another deadly confrontation is
underway between Afghanistan and Pakistan. On Monday, Pakistan bombed a drug
rehabilitation centre in Kabul, killing 400 people and injuring 300. The attack on the
hospital represents a grave escalation in the already strained relations between the two
neighbours, whose ties have remained complicated since 1947.

The Durand Line, the British-drawn border, has historically been a source of tension
between Afghanistan and Pakistan.

While the current conflict is not solely a result of the border dispute, understanding this
division is essential to understanding the complexities of the Afghanistan-Pakistan conflict.
This is compounded further by factors such as the Taliban regime, the Tehrik-e-Taliban -
Pakistan (TTP), various historical standoffs, and Pakistan’s policy of Strategic Depth.

[Link] Page 2 of 7
Experts Explain | Afghanistan-Pakistan War: How Pakistan’s strateg… became its greatest threat | Explained News - The Indian Express 20/03/26, 1:21 PM

What is the present conflict?

On February 27, the Pakistan Army launched Operation Ghazal Lil Haq, conducting
airstrikes on border posts in Afghanistan. Since the onset of the open conflict between
Afghanistan and Pakistan, more than 400 Afghan soldiers and 55 Pakistani soldiers have
lost their lives. By March 2, the UN Assistance Mission in Afghanistan reported at least 146
civilian casualties, with more than half being women and children.

On February 26th, the Afghan Army launched an attack on Pakistani military bases,
claiming to have killed more than 50 Pakistani soldiers. This action was in retaliation for
aerial strikes by Pakistan on February 22nd, which killed over 20 civilians. The present
escalation has effectively shattered the fragile ceasefire mediated by Qatar and Turkey in
October 2025.

TTP: Pakistan’s contradiction

The TTP was founded in 2007 by Baitullah Mehsud, from the Federally Administered Tribal
Areas (FATA) region. After Pakistan joined the U.S. war on terror in 2001, military
operations against the Taliban and other militant groups intensified in FATA and Pakistan’s
northwestern region.

One significant event was the Lal Masjid siege in 2007, where militants occupied the
mosque and demanded societal reforms based on Sharia law. After a week-long operation,
Pakistani security forces regained control of the mosque. This siege acted as a catalyst for
the formation of TTP just six months later.

The group’s activities surged after the Taliban took control of Afghanistan in 2021. By 2024,
Pakistan reported over 1,000 terror-related incidents linked to the TTP, more than double
the number in 2023.

Also in Explained | Pakistan strike kills 400 in Kabul: Why Taliban regime rejects
Islamabad’s urging to act against TTP

The Taliban have publicly stated that the TTP is not permitted to operate from Afghan

[Link] Page 3 of 7
Experts Explain | Afghanistan-Pakistan War: How Pakistan’s strateg… became its greatest threat | Explained News - The Indian Express 20/03/26, 1:21 PM

territory, asserting that the TTP is an internal issue of Pakistan. However, there are
ideological-ethnic similarities between the two groups, as they both originate from the
Deoband school of thought. Additionally, the TTP has pledged allegiance to the leadership
of the Taliban.

Pakistan claims the TTP has received safe shelter in Afghanistan, prompting it to conduct
military operations there. Not long ago, the Taliban leadership found refuge in Pakistan,
and when the Taliban returned to Afghanistan in 2021, then Prime Minister of Pakistan,
Imran Khan, publicly celebrated it as a victory on social media.

From strategic asset to strategic threat

Throughout both the Cold War and the post–Cold War periods, Pakistan maintained close
contacts with various Afghan groups, including the Taliban. It also came under criticism for
its links with the Taliban, particularly after the US launched its war in Afghanistan. Over
the past two decades, Pakistan has argued that ethnic Pashtun ties across the border and
the porous nature of the Durand Line make it easy for Taliban fighters to cross into
Pakistan and find refuge there.

However, this same rationale now appears to be used against Pakistan itself when it comes
to the TTP. Pakistan utilised the border region to engage with the Taliban, intending to
leverage the group for its strategic advantage. This strategy is detailed in the book “Inside
Al-Qaeda and the Taliban: Beyond Bin Laden and 9/11” by slain Pakistani journalist Syed
Saleem Shahzad. The Pakistani army aimed to maintain control in Afghanistan, as
evidenced by the hijacking of Indian Airlines Flight IC-814, which was taken to Kandahar
for safety and negotiation.

Under the policy of “Strategic Depth,” developed in the 1980s, Pakistan believed that a
friendly regime in Kabul would provide it with strategic leverage and geopolitical
advantage in South and Central Asia. The support for the Taliban and other Mujahideen
groups began with Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto and continued under General Zia-ul-Haq. During
Operation Cyclone, the CIA provided approximately $20 billion to train the Mujahideen,
who later became the Taliban, to combat the Soviets, with Pakistan acting as the key
facilitator and enabler.

[Link] Page 4 of 7
Experts Explain | Afghanistan-Pakistan War: How Pakistan’s strateg… became its greatest threat | Explained News - The Indian Express 20/03/26, 1:21 PM

After Pakistan joined the US in its war against Afghanistan in 2001, the Taliban became the
primary adversary. However, Pakistan eventually relaxed its stance against the Taliban
and sheltered some of its leadership. Today, it stands opposed to the Taliban. Still, it
remains nearly impossible for Pakistan to entirely suppress sympathies for the group
within its territory. To fully understand this situation, we must delve into the history of the
Durand Line.

The line of controversy

Haroon Sana, in “Frontiers of Faith,” discusses the North-Western Frontier of India during
the 1890s, surveyed by British political and military authorities. This region included
Peshawar, Kohat, Bannu, and Dera Ismail Khan. The British later adopted a “Forward
Policy” to administer these territories, establishing the North West Frontier Province in
1901. Hopkins (2020) describes this as “Frontier Governmentality,” in which the
relationship between state authority and the tribes was weak, and British sovereignty was
notably limited.

British interest in the region intensified with the growing concerns about Russian strategic
ambitions in Central Asia, prompting a strengthening of frontier policy. Consequently, in
1893, the Durand Line was negotiated between Sir Mortimer Durand and Amir Abdur
Rahman Khan to demarcate spheres of influence between British India and Afghanistan —
primarily to create a buffer between British and Russian strategic interests rather than a
permanent international boundary.

Also Read | Pakistan’s two-front crisis: Caught between Afghanistan and Iran wars,
what are Islamabad’s options?

Pakistan was created in 1947, at which point the Durand Line, originally intended to be a
buffer zone, became a fixed, hardened international boundary stretching approximately
2,460 kilometres. Many Pashtuns found themselves divided by this border, even though
their identity and lineage extended across it. Khan Abdul Gaffar Khan called for a
referendum for the creation of a State of Pakhtoonistan. The Afghan government under
King Zahir Shah rejected the Durand Line, arguing it had been signed under duress. In

[Link] Page 5 of 7
Experts Explain | Afghanistan-Pakistan War: How Pakistan’s strateg… became its greatest threat | Explained News - The Indian Express 20/03/26, 1:21 PM

1947, Afghanistan became the only country to oppose Pakistan’s admission to the United
Nations. In September 1950, Pakistan alleged that Afghan tribesmen and troops had
crossed the Durand Line into northern Balochistan, leading to a diplomatic rupture
between the two embassies. In 1957, the flag of Pashtunistan was raised at the Pakistan
embassy in Kabul. Relations deteriorated further when Prime Minister Liaquat Ali Khan
was assassinated by an Afghan national.

In 1960, the Bajaur campaign was initiated by Afghan Prime Minister Daud Khan,
escalating into armed conflict. In response, the Pakistan Air Force crossed the border and
bombed Afghan military posts. Daud Khan, a supporter of a unified Pashtun state, was
nonetheless compelled by pressure from Afghan elites to make peace with Pakistan and
resigned in 1963. The idea of Pashtunistan, however, was not entirely abandoned by some
within Afghan leadership. In 1973, King Zahir Shah was overthrown by his cousin Daud
Khan amid drought, famine, and an ineffective political system. Khan revived the Pashtun
movement, abolished the 1964 constitution, and established the Republic of Afghanistan.

During the 1970s, when Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto was Prime Minister of Pakistan, Islamabad
adopted a “forward policy” towards Afghanistan, aiming to counter Pashtun and other
ethno-nationalist movements by supporting Islamist factions within Afghanistan. Leaders
such as Gulbuddin Hekmatyar and Burhanuddin Rabbani reportedly received funding and
training from Pakistan to weaken competing political forces. Bhutto viewed these groups as
valuable allies in limiting both Indian and communist influence in the region.

After General Zia-ul-Haq took power, this policy expanded through the promotion of
Deobandi madrassas, which played a significant role in educating and mobilising
individuals who later became associated with the Taliban. As noted by Christine Fair,
Pakistan’s support for the Mujahideen was a crucial phase in its broader strategy of
asymmetric warfare against India. In the following decades, networks that formed during
the Afghan jihad were also used as proxies to sustain insurgency in Kashmir. However,
today this strategy seems to be failing, as relations between Pakistan and the Taliban have
become increasingly strained.

The ongoing Afghanistan-Pakistan conflict represents another revealing dimension of

[Link] Page 6 of 7
Experts Explain | Afghanistan-Pakistan War: How Pakistan’s strateg… became its greatest threat | Explained News - The Indian Express 20/03/26, 1:21 PM

Pakistan’s foreign relations. Much like its complicated relationship with the United States,
Pakistan has also struggled to maintain stable ties with its neighbour, Afghanistan. The
most intriguing aspect of this relationship today is that Pakistan faces defiance and
resistance from the very Taliban that it once assumed to be under its strategic influence
and control.

Dhananjay Tripathi is Senior Assistant Professor at the Department of International

[Link] Page 7 of 7