Pakistan’s attacks on Afghanistan are about more than the TTP

What the report says

Al Jazeera published an opinion article by Zardasht Shams, a former Afghan diplomat, arguing that Pakistan’s recent attacks inside Afghanistan reflect a broader bid for influence rather than only a campaign against the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan. The article says Pakistan has conducted multiple air strikes in Afghanistan since October 2025, including a March 16, 2026 strike on a Kabul drug rehabilitation centre that killed 269 civilians and injured 122, citing United Nations figures. It also notes Amnesty International’s July 21 call for Pakistan to explain the strike and for it to be investigated as a possible war crime.

Pakistan says its operations are aimed at the TTP, which it accuses Afghanistan’s Taliban authorities of supporting. The Taliban deny backing the group and describe the insurgency as Pakistan’s domestic issue. Shams argues that the TTP has roots inside Pakistan and that Islamabad’s past distinction between militants it opposed and groups it found strategically useful helped sustain networks from which the TTP benefited.

The article frames the strikes as part of Pakistan’s long-running pursuit of “strategic depth” in Afghanistan, now described by the author as an effort toward “strategic dominance.” It cites concerns in Pakistan about Taliban engagement with India and includes arguments by former Pakistani senator Afrasiab Khattak that Islamabad may be using the TTP issue to justify greater intervention and potentially support a renewed US security role in Afghanistan.

Shams also links the conflict to Pakistan’s handling of Pashtun and Baloch nationalism, refugee expulsions, border fencing and trade closures. The opinion piece concludes that coercive pressure on Afghanistan has been counterproductive and has deepened tensions rather than reducing militancy.