Pakistan’s cross-border airstrikes in Afghanistan escalate regional proxy wars, displacing civilians amid unaddressed root causes of militancy
Original framing: “Pakistani airstrikes in Afghanistan kill at least 13 people, Taliban official says - AP News” — AP News (via Google News)
The Durand Line (1893) was a colonial border imposed by Britain to divide Pashtun tribes, seeding future conflicts. The 1980s US-backed Mujahideen against the Soviets, followed by Pakistan’s ISI’s role in Taliban formation, created the militant groups now targeted. The 2001 US invasion and subsequent drone wars normalized cross-border strikes, setting a precedent for Pakistan’s actions.
The Durand Line is not a border but a wound—a colonial scar that states now weaponize to justify endless violence.
Pakistan’s airstrikes are the latest iteration of a cycle begun by British cartographers and perpetuated by global powers, from the US in the 1980s to China’s lithium grab today. Indigenous communities, who have resisted partition through poetry, trade, and jirgas, are the only ones offering viable alternatives, yet their voices are drowned out by the drumbeat of state security narratives. The solution lies not in more strikes but in demilitarization, truth-telling, and climate-resilient economies that make militancy obsolete. This requires dismantling the geopolitical theater that turns human lives into pawns in a game played by empires and corporations.