Pakistan-Afghan Tensions Explode

Drone strike on border post pushes neighbours into open military confrontation

February 27, 2026: Pakistan carried out a drone strike on an Afghan military post along the Paktia-Kurram border, sharply escalating tensions between Pakistan and Afghanistan. The attack followed nearly 14 hours of sustained Pakistani air operations targeting Taliban-linked positions inside Afghanistan. What began as counter-militant action has now spiralled into direct state-to-state confrontation, with both sides deploying air power and claiming heavy casualties. The strategy echoes past conflicts, including Soviet operations in the 1980s and US-led air campaigns after 2001, where air dominance preceded broader escalation.

Pakistani forces have increasingly relied on drones and air strikes rather than large-scale ground incursions. Afghan authorities claim their air force launched retaliatory operations, with reports suggesting strikes reaching areas near Islamabad. Kabul says 55 people were killed in Pakistani attacks, while Islamabad claims 150 deaths from Afghan strikes, though these figures remain unverified. The conflict, initially centred on the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), has now widened into open military engagement between the two governments. Pakistan accuses the Afghan Taliban of allowing TTP militants to regroup after their release when the Taliban returned to power in August 2021, a charge Kabul denies.

Beyond militant activity, the crisis is rooted in the long-disputed Durand Line, a 2,670-kilometre border drawn in 1893 between British India and Afghanistan and inherited by Pakistan in 1947. Afghanistan has never formally recognised the boundary, which cuts through Pashtun tribal regions and has sparked repeated clashes over decades. With both sides now describing the situation as open war, diplomatic mediation by countries such as Turkey and Qatar may be explored, but immediate de-escalation appears uncertain.