Afghanistan’s Taliban authorities has army tools left behind by the previous Afghan and international forces. And regardless of sanctions, studies counsel it has been capable of buy some army tools by way of the black market.
So far, there isn’t any proof that it has the planes or the potential to launch airstrikes deep into Pakistan.
But as a gaggle, the Taliban sustained greater than 20 years of conflict in opposition to the US and its Nato allies, so its capability to hold out unconventional and guerrilla warfare is nicely evidenced.
And within the newest stand-off, the Taliban authorities used drones to strike targets in Pakistan. Drones, which are low-cost, small and straightforward to make use of, will undoubtedly alter the character of this battle like they’ve modified battlefields world wide.
The problem with assessing how far the newest escalation may go, stems partly from the shortage of verified data out there from both facet.
The Taliban authorities doesn’t permit quick access to international journalists, and verifying data, significantly from border areas, is much more difficult.
In Pakistan too, gathering verified data from border areas independently is just not straightforward.
Trade between the 2 international locations has been closed since October 2025, the longest in a long time which is affecting small companies in Afghanistan, and the supply of provides, together with essential medicines.
For unusual Afghans, reeling beneath a extreme disaster of starvation and poverty, and dwelling beneath the Taliban authorities’s stringent restrictions, the one constructive since 2021 was that after 4 a long time of conflict, they did not have to fret about bombs falling on them and their households.
That feeling of relative safety has now been punctured by the violence of the previous six months.
