Pakistan is attacking targets inside Afghanistan because its government says the Taliban authorities are allowing anti‑Pakistan militants to operate from Afghan soil and have carried out attacks inside Pakistan, while Kabul says it is responding to Pakistani incursions and violations of its sovereignty.

Why Is Pakistan Attacking Afghanistan?

1. The Immediate Trigger

  • In late February 2026, Pakistan launched large airstrikes on Kabul, Kandahar and other areas, announcing what it called “open war” against the Taliban government in Afghanistan.
  • Pakistani officials say this followed attacks by Afghan forces or militants on Pakistani military positions near the border and a series of deadly militant attacks inside Pakistan linked to groups based in Afghanistan, especially Tehreek‑e‑Taliban Pakistan (TTP).
  • Afghan Taliban authorities, however, say their own ground operations and fire were “retaliatory” against earlier Pakistani airstrikes that killed Afghan civilians, accusing Pakistan of crossing into Afghan territory and violating sovereignty.

In other words, each side is publicly framing its actions as a response to the other, creating a cycle of escalation.

2. Pakistan’s Official Justifications

Pakistani leaders have given several overlapping reasons:

  1. Militant safe havens in Afghanistan
    • Islamabad claims the Taliban government is harboring or tolerating militant groups that attack Pakistan, primarily the TTP and other jihadist outfits.
 * Pakistan frames its strikes as counter‑terrorism operations against “terrorist hideouts” and “Afghan Taliban defence targets,” not civilians.
  1. “Our patience has overflowed” rhetoric
    • Defence Minister Khawaja Asif publicly declared that Pakistan’s “cup of patience has overflowed” and announced an “open war” (Operation Ghazab lil Haq – “righteous fury”) against the Taliban government.
 * He accused the Taliban of turning Afghanistan into a hub for global militants and even suggested it had become a kind of “colony of India,” reflecting Pakistan’s wider security fears.
  1. Domestic security pressure
    • Violence inside Pakistan has sharply increased since the Taliban took Kabul in 2021, with more frequent and deadly attacks attributed to TTP and allies.
 * Analysts note a pattern where Pakistan’s military responds to domestic instability and rising militant violence by projecting strength outward, including airstrikes across the border.

3. Afghanistan’s Counter‑Narrative

The Taliban government in Kabul tells a very different story:

  • It says Pakistan’s airstrikes have killed Afghan civilians, including women and children, in provinces such as Nangarhar, Paktika, Kabul and Kandahar.
  • Kabul insists its own cross‑border actions are “retaliatory operations” against Pakistani military incursions and earlier bombing campaigns, not unprovoked aggression.
  • Taliban officials deny sheltering “terrorists” and portray Pakistan as using the terrorism label to justify violations of Afghan territory and pressure the regime.

This clash of narratives is part of why the question “who started it?” is so contested: both sides present themselves as reacting to the other’s aggression.

4. Deeper, Long‑Running Causes

Beyond the latest clashes, several structural issues explain why Pakistan is attacking Afghanistan now:

  1. TTP and cross‑border militancy
    • The Pakistani Taliban (TTP) is ideologically aligned with the Afghan Taliban but targets the Pakistani state.
 * Since the Taliban’s return to power in Kabul, the TTP has become more emboldened, and Pakistan believes the Taliban are unwilling or unable to decisively move against it.
  1. Border dispute – the Durand Line
    • The 2,600‑km Durand Line is recognized by Pakistan as the official border but is not fully accepted by Afghan governments, including the Taliban.
 * This contested border, and efforts by Pakistan to fence or control it, repeatedly spark clashes, shootings, and nationalist resentment on both sides.
  1. Refugees and deportations
    • Pakistan’s mass deportation campaign against Afghan refugees and undocumented migrants over the past years has worsened relations, fueling anger in Afghanistan and among Pashtun communities.
  1. Regional rivalries and India factor
    • Pakistani officials, including Khawaja Asif, have accused India of using Afghan territory and the Taliban regime as a platform for a “proxy war” against Pakistan.
 * Pakistan’s security establishment is extremely sensitive to any warming ties between Kabul and New Delhi, seeing them as encirclement.
  1. Internal politics inside Pakistan
    • Commentators argue that external confrontations, especially with Afghanistan, sometimes help Pakistan’s military and political elites rally domestic support or distract from economic crises and internal instability.

5. How This Became “Open War”

  • Tensions have been steadily rising since 2021, with a pattern of: TTP attacks in Pakistan → Pakistani cross‑border strikes → Taliban condemnation → border skirmishes, then temporary ceasefires.
  • A short but intense conflict in October 2025, mediated by Qatar and Türkiye, led to a ceasefire, but underlying issues were never resolved.
  • By February 2026, a combination of new militant attacks, disputed cross‑border incidents, and political rhetoric led Pakistan to dramatically scale up airstrikes on major Afghan cities and formally declare “open war.”

So when people ask “why is Pakistan attacking Afghanistan,” the concise answer is:

Pakistan says it is striking Afghanistan to destroy militant safe havens and punish the Taliban for failing to act against groups like the TTP, while Afghanistan says it is under attack from a neighbor violating its sovereignty, and the deeper drivers include a disputed border, refugee and deportation tensions, regional rivalries, and Pakistan’s internal security and political pressures.

HTML Table: Key Reasons and Narratives

html

<table>
  <thead>
    <tr>
      <th>Aspect</th>
      <th>Pakistan’s stated view</th>
      <th>Afghanistan’s (Taliban) view</th>
    </tr>
  </thead>
  <tbody>
    <tr>
      <td>Immediate trigger</td>
      <td>Response to attacks on Pakistani military posts and rising TTP terrorism launched from Afghan soil.[web:3][web:7][web:9]</td>
      <td>Retaliation against earlier Pakistani airstrikes and alleged incursions causing civilian deaths inside Afghanistan.[web:3][web:7]</td>
    </tr>
    <tr>
      <td>Main justification</td>
      <td>Counter‑terrorism strikes on “terrorist hideouts” and “Taliban defence targets,” not civilians.[web:3][web:7][web:9]</td>
      <td>Pakistan is violating sovereignty and hitting Afghan territory under pretext of fighting terrorism.[web:3][web:7]</td>
    </tr>
    <tr>
      <td>TTP issue</td>
      <td>Taliban is sheltering or tolerating TTP and other militants attacking Pakistan.[web:3][web:7][web:9]</td>
      <td>Taliban denies sheltering terrorists, says Pakistan exaggerates to justify strikes.[web:3][web:7]</td>
    </tr>
    <tr>
      <td>Border (Durand Line)</td>
      <td>Internationally recognized border that Pakistan seeks to secure and fence.[web:3]</td>
      <td>Seen as an imposed colonial line that unfairly splits Pashtun lands; frequent source of friction.[web:3]</td>
    </tr>
    <tr>
      <td>Regional politics</td>
      <td>Claims Afghanistan is becoming a “colony” for India and a base for a proxy war against Pakistan.[web:1]</td>
      <td>Rejects Pakistani accusations, presents itself as defending Afghan independence from all neighbors.[web:1][web:3]</td>
    </tr>
    <tr>
      <td>Domestic angle in Pakistan</td>
      <td>Military presents action as necessary to protect citizens and restore deterrence.[web:1][web:9]</td>
      <td>Critics say Pakistan uses external aggression to manage internal crises and militant blowback.[web:5][web:9]</td>
    </tr>
  </tbody>
</table>

TL;DR: Pakistan says it is bombing Afghanistan because the Taliban regime is harboring militants who attack Pakistan and because its “patience has run out.” Afghanistan says Pakistan is violating its sovereignty and killing civilians, and that its own actions are defensive. The deeper roots lie in cross‑border militancy, the disputed border, refugee tensions, regional rivalry (especially with India), and Pakistan’s internal security and political struggles.

Information gathered from public forums or data available on the internet and portrayed here.