Pakistan's Airstrikes Against Taliban Escalate Month-Long Conflict

Pakistan and the Taliban administration in Afghanistan have been locked in a near-month-long conflict as of late March 2026, involving airstrikes and clashes along their shared border.

The hostilities began one day before U.S. and Israeli attacks on Iran. A notable incident occurred on March 16, when a Pakistani airstrike hit a drug rehabilitation center in Kabul, killing more than 100 people. Pakistan and the Taliban have provided differing casualty figures for the overall conflict.

Former EU diplomat Michael Semple argued in a published article that airstrikes alone will not resolve Pakistan's security challenges. Pakistan attributes its status as the world's most terrorism-vulnerable country to the Taliban's return to power in Afghanistan.

Semple highlighted that the Afghan Taliban have sheltered the Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), which intensified attacks against the Pakistani government on the eve of the war. He noted the TTP's deep historical roots independent of Pakistan's relations with the Taliban and suggested the Taliban use the conflict to gain domestic legitimacy by portraying it as a defense of sovereignty.

The analysis comes amid unprecedented tensions between Pakistan and the Taliban, with Pakistan viewing the Afghan Taliban's governance as the root cause of its terrorism woes.