ISLAMABAD: The ongoing border conflict with Afghanistan is costing Pakistan dearly, due to increased military spending not only to confront its neighbour but also to tackle the rising number of terror attacks within the country. Thus, Pakistan’s Finance Ministry has approved various new demands made for defence procurement and services amid the tensions on both eastern and western borders this year. The prolonged conflict with Afghanistan would only bleed Pakistan, experts warned.
As the border clashes with Afghanistan escalated, Pakistan sanctioned a package of PKR 50 billion for defence security as well as additional PKR 842 million for border control operations, internal security duties and the maintenance of law and order, and PKR 100 million for the repair of defence equipment. These funds are outside the annual budgetary allocation, which aims to strengthen international borders, upgrade naval bases and protect the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC). Pakistan now plans to fence the border with Afghanistan.
Since the rise in terror attacks inside Pakistan is seen as linked with the militant outfits from Afghanistan, Islamabad has chosen to close the border for trade and other activities, causing severe economic losses. About PKR 1 billion is lost daily, according to the Pakistan-Afghan Joint Chamber of Commerce and Industry. “Hundreds of freight vehicles have been trapped on the base, some of which are also loaded with goods that are deteriorating on some vehicles,” it said.
Notably, Islamabad had increased defence allocation by 20 percent after engaging in armed hostilities with India in June 2025. It put pressure on the financially drained Pakistan. “While understandable from a strategic lens, this increase does come when economic recovery is just beginning to happen,” said Hina Shaikh, a Lahore-based economist with the International Growth Centre (IGC). Now, the ongoing border clashes with Afghanistan have added additional strain on the fragile economy of Pakistan.
The fallout from recent Pakistan-Afghanistan border clashes has fuelled a noticeable surge in militant activity inside Pakistan, which has been reflected through growing cases of suicide bombings and attacks on security personnel. At least 3,187 people, including civilians and security personnel, were killed– and 1981 were injured in the first 11 months of 2025– which is 25 percent higher compared to fatalities that occurred in militant attacks in 2024, as per the Centre for Research and Security Studies (CRSS), a think tank.
Islamabad blamed Taliban-sponsored outfits for the attacks inside Pakistan. But Kabul rejected the claim, calling it misinformation and instead blaming Pakistan for using Islamic State-linked militants to undermine its stability and sovereignty. Islamabad has complained that Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), also known as Pakistan Taliban, which has become powerful since the return of the Taliban to Kabul, has been behind frequent attacks in Pakistan.
The recent airstrike by Pakistan inside Afghanistan turned out to be the frustration and inability of Islamabad to rein in TTP activities. Taliban responded with strong gunfire across the border, inflicting heavy losses on Pakistan. According to various reports, at least 44 Pakistani soldiers were killed in Afghanistan’s gunfire until mid-December, even as the Taliban government claimed the death toll was 58 in October.
While the Taliban has no match to Pakistan’s big and strong-armed forces, its guerrilla tactics can be troublesome for Islamabad. “Learning from history, particularly the Soviet and the American experience, we should not commit the blunder of using our ground forces for any prolonged kinetic action in Afghanistan,” said former Pakistani diplomat Javid Husain.
Moreover, the prolonged conflict can exacerbate its economic woes, said Mir Mostafizur Rahaman, a scribe and expert on South Asian geopolitics. “Pakistan itself stands at a precarious crossroads. The country’s economy is struggling to stay afloat under an IMF programme, its rupee continues to slide, and inflation remains punishingly high. Any prolonged military confrontation – even a low-intensity border conflict – would derail its fragile recovery, diverting scarce resources from development to defence,” he said.
The growing mistrust between Kabul and Islamabad has turned Pakistan’s long-cherished notion of strategic depth into a strategic deadlock, said Saher Liaqat and Abu Hurrairah Abbasi, both MPhil Scholars of Strategic Studies at Islamabad-based National Defence University. “The clashes compound an already bleak domestic outlook in Pakistan, where the western border has once again become a frontline. The loss of civilian lives, militant infiltration, and economic damage have disturbing effects on the public, and pressure to change the current policy in Afghanistan is becoming increasingly vocal in Islamabad’s policy sectors,” they wrote.
END.
The ongoing border conflict with Afghanistan is costing Pakistan dearly, due to increased military spending not only to confront its neighbour but also to tackle the rising number of terror attacks within the country. Thus, Pakistan’s Finance Ministry has approved various new demands made for defence procurement and services amid the tensions on both eastern and western borders this year. The prolonged conflict with Afghanistan would only bleed Pakistan, experts warned.
As the border clashes with Afghanistan escalated, Pakistan sanctioned a package of PKR 50 billion for defence security as well as additional PKR 842 million for border control operations, internal security duties and the maintenance of law and order, and PKR 100 million for the repair of defence equipment. These funds are outside the annual budgetary allocation, which aims to strengthen international borders, upgrade naval bases and protect the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC). Pakistan now plans to fence the border with Afghanistan.
Since the rise in terror attacks inside Pakistan is seen as linked with the militant outfits from Afghanistan, Islamabad has chosen to close the border for trade and other activities, causing severe economic losses. About PKR 1 billion is lost daily, according to the Pakistan-Afghan Joint Chamber of Commerce and Industry. “Hundreds of freight vehicles have been trapped on the base, some of which are also loaded with goods that are deteriorating on some vehicles,” it said.
Notably, Islamabad had increased defence allocation by 20 percent after engaging in armed hostilities with India in June 2025. It put pressure on the financially drained Pakistan. “While understandable from a strategic lens, this increase does come when economic recovery is just beginning to happen,” said Hina Shaikh, a Lahore-based economist with the International Growth Centre (IGC). Now, the ongoing border clashes with Afghanistan have added additional strain on the fragile economy of Pakistan.
The fallout from recent Pakistan-Afghanistan border clashes has fuelled a noticeable surge in militant activity inside Pakistan, which has been reflected through growing cases of suicide bombings and attacks on security personnel. At least 3,187 people, including civilians and security personnel, were killed– and 1981 were injured in the first 11 months of 2025– which is 25 percent higher compared to fatalities that occurred in militant attacks in 2024, as per the Centre for Research and Security Studies (CRSS), a think tank.
Islamabad blamed Taliban-sponsored outfits for the attacks inside Pakistan. But Kabul rejected the claim, calling it misinformation and instead blaming Pakistan for using Islamic State-linked militants to undermine its stability and sovereignty. Islamabad has complained that Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), also known as Pakistan Taliban, which has become powerful since the return of the Taliban to Kabul, has been behind frequent attacks in Pakistan.
The recent airstrike by Pakistan inside Afghanistan turned out to be the frustration and inability of Islamabad to rein in TTP activities. Taliban responded with strong gunfire across the border, inflicting heavy losses on Pakistan. According to various reports, at least 44 Pakistani soldiers were killed in Afghanistan’s gunfire until mid-December, even as the Taliban government claimed the death toll was 58 in October.
While the Taliban has no match to Pakistan’s big and strong-armed forces, its guerrilla tactics can be troublesome for Islamabad. “Learning from history, particularly the Soviet and the American experience, we should not commit the blunder of using our ground forces for any prolonged kinetic action in Afghanistan,” said former Pakistani diplomat Javid Husain.
Moreover, the prolonged conflict can exacerbate its economic woes, said Mir Mostafizur Rahaman, a scribe and expert on South Asian geopolitics. “Pakistan itself stands at a precarious crossroads. The country’s economy is struggling to stay afloat under an IMF programme, its rupee continues to slide, and inflation remains punishingly high. Any prolonged military confrontation – even a low-intensity border conflict – would derail its fragile recovery, diverting scarce resources from development to defence,” he said.
The growing mistrust between Kabul and Islamabad has turned Pakistan’s long-cherished notion of strategic depth into a strategic deadlock, said Saher Liaqat and Abu Hurrairah Abbasi, both MPhil Scholars of Strategic Studies at Islamabad-based National Defence University. “The clashes compound an already bleak domestic outlook in Pakistan, where the western border has once again become a frontline. The loss of civilian lives, militant infiltration, and economic damage have disturbing effects on the public, and pressure to change the current policy in Afghanistan is becoming increasingly vocal in Islamabad’s policy sectors,” they wrote.
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