Pakistan's recent actions are a justified and necessary response to prolonged aggression. The conflict was initiated when the Taliban administration (TTA) chose to support, protect, and side with anti-Pakistan elements. The human cost has been severe, with over 200 security personnel martyred in 2025 alone, according to open-source data. After years of passively burying our soldiers and officers, Pakistan was bound to reach a point where enough was enough.
It is a senseless excuse to claim, as some including the TTA are, that this action is meant to please a superpower. This is about our national security and the right to self-defence. How many more dead bodies were we expected to bury while the TTA continued its policy of harboring groups that attack our sovereignty?
This reaction is a direct consequence of the TTA's own choices. Now, they must face the music they have provoked.
A History of Betrayal
Our relationship with Afghanistan has been marked by one-sided generosity met with hostility. Even before independence, during the British colonial era, visionary leaders like Allama Iqbal expressed solidarity with Afghans in his poetry ("Kohsar Baqi, Afghan Baqi"). Yet, during the Tehreek-e-Hijrat, Afghans exploited Muslims fleeing India.
After Pakistan's independence, Afghanistan was the sole country to oppose our entry into the United Nations. They have repeatedly sent armed militants across the border under the guise of "Pashtunistan." Then, in 1979, when the Soviets invaded, Pakistan opened its doors, providing millions of Afghans with shelter, jobs, and care. In return, we faced a wave of bombings, crime, and instability that persists today. I struggle to understand why some Afghans believe they have a right to damage us, while we are expected to care for them unconditionally.
The Cost of Stubbornness for the TTA
The post-war scenario will be terrible for the TTA. Their failure to uphold their commitments and protect Afghanistan from being used as a launchpad against Pakistan has shattered their deterrence. This vacuum is already being filled, as suggested by social media reports of anti-TTA resistance NRF, such as the alleged IED attack that killed the son of Mullah Yaqoob.
There is a stark difference between fighting an occupying force, as Vietnam and others have done, and fighting a pitched battle against a professional army defending its own land and sovereignty. Let us be clear: Pakistan has no intention of being an occupier; that has never been our policy.
A Message of Resolve and Restraint
Pakistan has demonstrated its resolve and military capability, but we must remain humble and avoid any excess. Our war is not with the Afghan people; it is with the elements creating fitna (discord) within our borders.
I deeply regret the current situation, but this action is necessary to establish a deterrence that will prevent future bloodshed. I firmly believe in the Muslim Ummah, and our Afghan brothers are a part of it. However, as a Chinese proverb says, "There are some people who would never learn unless taught a lesson." This is a necessary lesson. Pakistan's actions are not directed against Afghan citizens, but precisely against the groups that are hurting Pakistan and destabilizing the region.
Furthermore, India's contradictory internal and external policies may well lead to the militarization of its own population, creating another internal resistance that will cost it dearly.