Pakistan’s War in Afghanistan Is Tied to Its Nuclear Strategy

Natiq Malikzada

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Pakistan’s bombing of Afghanistan over the past few weeks has again exposed something the world would prefer not to confront: it is fundamentally a rogue state that acts without regard for international law. From February 26 until March 18, according to the United Nations, Pakistan’s bombing of Afghanistan has killed at least 289 people, including women and children, and displaced around 115,000. This notoriously included the bombing of a drug rehabilitation center in Kabul on March 16, killing 143 civilians and wounding hundreds more.

Pakistan has sold these attacks in international fora as “counterterrorism” missions. Islamabad has claimed that it is targeting Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), a Pakistani terrorist group with bases in Afghanistan—vaguely and euphemistically claiming that its targets have been “terrorist camps,” “hideouts,” and TTP’s “Afghanistan-based leadership and handlers.” However, in public reporting around the weeks of bombardment, there has been no clearly identified target whose killing would explain the scale of civilian harm—making the claim of “surgical” attacks collapse under the weight of dead and wounded civilians, damaged homes, and displaced families.