ISLAMABAD: Pakistan's military has stepped up operations along the Afghan border in recent weeks after a spate of militant attacks that has dashed any hope the frontier might see more peace and stability after the end of the war in Afghanistan.
Islamist and separatist factions have killed at least 14 Pakistani soldiers in attacks over the past month, three of them carried out by fighters entering from Afghanistan, the Pakistani military said.
Afghanistan's new Taliban rulers, struggling with a humanitarian crisis, have denied that Afghan territory was used in any of the attacks.
But despite such assurances, disputes linked to the border, which has been a bone of contention between the neighbours for decades, could undermine their relations.
The Pakistani military said six insurgents were killed in the latest clash in the resource-rich southwestern province of Balochistan on Wednesday.
"Operations to eliminate such perpetrators of terrorist acts in Pakistan will continue," the military said in a statement.
A top Pakistani security official with direct knowledge of border operations told Reuters: "We have stepped up intelligence-based operations to ensure that we deny entry to militants."
Large areas on the Pakistani side of the border were out of the control of the government for decades, ruled by fiercely independent Pashtun tribes, whose communities often straddle both sides of the unmarked border.
But Pakistan is determined to end all that, aiming to bring the rugged Pashtun lands under central rule and to demarcate the border with a fence, and control who comes and goes with a tight border-control system, another Pakistani official said.
"We're targeting anyone, whether separatists or Islamists militants, who is a threat," said the second official, who also declined to be identified.
'FRIENDS'
Pakistan has enjoyed good relations with the Afghan Taliban for years even though Pakistan was officially an ally of the United States during its 20-year occupation of Afghanistan.
But as Pakistan grapples with violence by Pakistani Islamists and separatists, its appeals to the Taliban to control their side of the border have not brought the action it hopes to see.
Increasingly frustrated, Pakistani officials have been pressing the Taliban to deny space and resources to the militants, an appeal repeated by National Security Adviser Moeed Yusuf when he visited Kabul last month.
Yusuf's office did not respond to a request for comment.
In Kabul, the Taliban reject suggestions Afghan territory is used for attacks into Pakistan and hope talks can solve the problem.
"We're trying to solve such actions through diplomatic ways," defence ministry spokesman Enayatullah Khowarazmi told Reuters.
The Taliban tried late last year to facilitate talks between Pakistan and an alliance of al-Qaeda linked militants known as the Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), or Pakistani Taliban. But the talks fell apart after a few weeks.
Despite the frustrations, Pakistani officials rule out the chance of any serious deterioration in relations with the Afghan Taliban.
"We're budding friends," one of the officials said.
The Pakistani military's information office did not respond to a request for comment about the scope of its operations and what the military would do if the attacks from Afghan soil continued.
Another source of friction is Pakistan's determination to finish fencing the 2,600 km (1,615 mile) border that was drawn by British colonial rulers with no consideration for the Pashtun tribes it divided. It has never been recognised by any Afghan government.
Taliban fighters have at times stopped Pakistani forces from putting up the fence, just as forces of the old U.S.-backed Afghan government used to do.
Taliban Defence Minister Mullah Yaqoob says his government had not given anyone permission to fence the border.
"We've not taken any decision about the fencing," he told Afghan state-owned RTA TV last week.
Pakistan struggles to quell violence on its Afghan border
https://arab.news/68fsq
Pakistan struggles to quell violence on its Afghan border
- Taliban reject suggestions Afghan territory used for attacks into Pakistan
- Taliban fighters have at times stopped Pakistani forces from putting up border fence
UN agencies report spike in Afghan arrests as nearly two million return from Pakistan
- UNHCR and IOM data show weekly spike in detentions, with Balochistan emerging as main hotspot
- International rights groups say the deportation drive risks violating international protection obligations
ISLAMABAD: United Nations agencies for refugees and migration recorded a sharp rise in the arrest and detention of Afghan nationals in Pakistan since the beginning of the year, highlighting in a report this week that about two million Afghans have been repatriated to their country since late 2023.
According to a joint report released by the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) and the International Organization for Migration (IOM), the scale of the movement has gone up significantly.
“During the reporting period (4 – 10 January), a total of 1,726 Afghan nationals were arrested and detained, marking an 18 percent increase compared to the previous week,” the report said. “Cumulatively, from 15 September 2023 to 10 January 2026, 1,957,694 individuals have returned.”
The mass migration and deportation drive began on November 1, 2023, after Pakistani authorities announced a repatriation plan for “illegal immigrants,” mostly Afghans. The decision followed a spike in suicide bombings, which the Pakistani government said were carried out by Afghan nationals or by militants launching cross-border attacks from neighboring Afghanistan.
Islamabad has also blamed illegal Afghan immigrants and refugees for involvement in smuggling and other crimes, though Afghanistan denies the allegations.
In 2025, Pakistan expanded the scope of its deportation drive, moving beyond undocumented foreign nationals to include holders of Afghan Citizen Cards (ACC). The campaign was later extended to bearers of Proof of Registration (PoR) cards after their validity expired in June.
While PoR cards were meant to recognize Afghan refugees under a formal registration framework, ACCs were merely introduced to document Afghan nationality without conferring refugee status on those in possession of them.
“Out of all arrests and detentions during the reporting period ... ACC holders and undocumented Afghans represented 87 percent of the total rate of arrest and detentions, and PoR holders represented 13 percent,” the report said.
In addition to the arrests, the reporting period saw a marked increase in activity at the border. Between January 4 and January 10, 2026, alone, an estimated 19,666 Afghans returned through various crossing points including Torkham and Chaman, representing a 38 percent increase in returns and a 17 percent increase in deportations compared to the week prior.
The UN report noted that “fear of arrest remained the main reason for return among undocumented individuals and ACC holders (95 percent)” while PoR card holders cited “strict border entry requirements” as their primary driver for leaving.
Geographically, 73 percent of recent arrests occurred in Balochistan, with the Islamabad Capital Territory (ICT) also being a focal point with 16 percent of the total arrests following government directives for Afghans to relocate from the capital.
Earlier in January, Amnesty International renewed pressure on Islamabad, urging it to stop deportations.
“Amnesty International calls on the Pakistani authorities to halt the deportation of Afghan refugees and ensure that individuals with international protection needs are safeguarded as per international human rights law,” it said in an open letter addressed to Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif.
Amnesty maintained Pakistan’s repatriation policy violated the principle of non-refoulement, which prohibits returning refugees to countries where they could face persecution or serious harm, and described the campaign as potentially “one of the largest forcible returns of refugees in modern history.”
