How “Great Game” tensions between Russia and Britain over the war-torn region led to the declaration of war between Pakistan and Afghanistan, and how it could get much worse
Pakistan has launched attacks on the Afghan capital Kabul and several other cities after months of rising tensions and cross-border attacks. And the Afghan Taliban have retaliated across the border with artillery strikes; Both sides claim to have caused casualties to each other.
Pakistan is in an “open war” with Afghanistan, Defense Minister Khawaja Mohammad Asif said on Friday, and the fighting is escalating into the most serious armed confrontation between the two uneasy neighbors since a Qatari-brokered ceasefire in October.
An explosion of violence on the border between the two could lead to major destabilization of the region amid Pakistani claims that India may have supported attacks launched by Afghanistan. Lawlessness across the continent fuels the growth of terrorist groups and the overall threat to the West.
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Why are they fighting?
Months of sporadic cross-border attacks erupted into military action and Islamabad’s Defense Minister Khawaja Asif declared “open war” on Afghanistan. Hours earlier, Afghan rulers the Taliban said they had launched “large-scale offensive operations” against Pakistani troops. The Afghan attacks occurred along the Durand Line that separates the two countries, created in 1983 by British diplomat Sir Mortimer Durand.
His intention was to create a separation between the British Indian Empire and Afghanistan in intense rivalry with the Russian Empire. In practice, it served as a buffer between the interests of the United Kingdom and Russia, which never owned Afghanistan, despite attempts to do so.
Afghanistan has always been against this border and its objective was then to create a border between the country and what was then India. One of the reasons the 1,640-mile border between Afghanistan and what became Pakistan in 1947 is so sensitive is that it divides two main ethnic groups, the Pashtuns and the Balochs.
The Pakistani Taliban, Tehrik-e-Taliban and Baloch rebels have repeatedly launched terrorist attacks inside Pakistan, further increasing tension. This border has for many years been one of the most politically explosive divisions in the world and means that the predominantly Pashtun Taliban have people on both sides and their tribe is effectively divided.
The Taliban never accepted the border, but in 2017 tensions increased further when Pakistan began its project to build huge barbed wire fences and watchtowers. It put a solid, armed border between the land the Taliban believe is theirs. This led to bloody clashes and frequent emergency closures of border crossings at Torkham and Chaman.
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Why now?
When the Taliban took over Afghanistan in 2021, the situation worsened.
Since then there have been approximately 75 major flare-ups, armed clashes between the two sides and Pakistan was increasingly impatient with the violence. In October 2025, Afghanistan and Pakistan agreed to a ceasefire brokered by Qatar and Türkiye after a week of bloodshed on the border.
This latest outbreak has led to a crisis that will be difficult for both sides to emerge from, since the government in Kabul is led by the Afghan Taliban. Although previously more distinct from their Pakistani counterpart, which had greater ties to Al Qaeda and global terrorism, the Afghan Taliban are unlikely to clamp down on armed fighters.
This is because, while all of this has been going on in recent years, the Islamic State in Khorasan, a regional franchise of ISIS has been poaching Taliban fighters. And sources say the Afghan Taliban are unlikely to punish the TTP, not only because of its ties, but also because they do not want to drive them into the arms of ISIS in Khorasan. And there have been many interjihadist clashes between the Afghan Taliban and ISIS over who dominates the region.
Afghanistan launched an extensive cross-border attack on Pakistan across six provinces on Thursday night, in what it said was retaliation for Pakistani airstrikes on Afghanistan on Sunday. Pakistan had said those airstrikes had targeted and killed dozens of militants in Afghanistan, but Kabul said only civilians, including women and children, had been killed.
In response, Pakistan carried out airstrikes in the early hours of Friday against the Afghan capital and two other areas, Kandahar and Paktia. The border fighting, which by then had ceased, restarted and continued on Friday.
Could international powers play a role?
The fighting has alarmed the international community, particularly because other militant groups in the area, including Al Qaeda and the Islamic State group, still have a presence and have been trying to re-emerge. In October, Türkiye, Qatar and Saudi Arabia facilitated talks between the parties. At the time, US President Donald Trump also weighed in, saying he intended to resolve the conflict “very quickly.” It remains to be seen if he will do it again.
Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan spoke with his counterparts from Pakistan, Afghanistan, Qatar and Saudi Arabia, a Turkish official said Friday, speaking on condition of anonymity in line with government policy.
Russia has called for an immediate cessation of fighting and a diplomatic resolution to the conflict, while Iran said it was willing to help facilitate dialogue.
Becatoros contributed from Athens, Greece and Castillo from Beijing, China.
