Why is violence between Pakistan and Afghanistan recurring?

Pakistan and Afghanistan have seen recent cross-border military activity, with Islamabad carrying out strikes inside Afghan territory and Kabul reporting fatalities from those attacks. Afghan officials have said three people were killed in Pakistani air strikes, while Pakistani forces also say they killed Afghan Taliban fighters during a border escalation. These events follow a pattern of tit-for-tat actions that have intensified tensions along the frontier.

One central grievance driving the confrontation is Pakistan's accusation that elements based in Afghanistan—most notably the Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) and other armed groups—have used Afghan territory as a base for attacks inside Pakistan. The Afghan government has rejected claims that it shelters or backs those fighters. That disagreement over responsibility has complicated diplomatic efforts to resolve the violence.

The security downturn contrasts with Islamabad's initial reaction to the Taliban's 2021 return to power in Kabul, which Pakistan welcomed at the time. Since then, however, relations between the two capitals have deteriorated and repeated attempts to halt the fighting have so far failed. The ongoing exchanges have coincided with militant attacks inside Pakistan, including a suicide bombing in Dera Ismail Khan that killed at least 12 people.

Analysts and officials have discussed the wider consequences of this cycle of violence, noting the risk of further escalation and the difficulty of achieving a durable ceasefire while mutual accusations persist. The issue was debated on Inside Story with presenter Adrian Finighan and guests including Syed Akhtar Ali Shah, Faiz Zaland, and Michael Semple, who examined why previous de-escalation efforts have not succeeded and what the fallout might be if clashes continue.