GNV News, August 17, 2025

In August 2025, the Pakistani government launched a military operation against Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP, the Pakistani Taliban). Despite the two sides having concluded a ceasefire agreement in June 2022, armed conflict along the Pakistan–Afghanistan border has continued since November of that year. TTP was formed in 2007 in reaction to Pakistan’s military actions near the Afghan border, aims to establish an emirate based on its own interpretation of Islamic law, and is said to have repeatedly carried out attacks against the Pakistani military.

The Pakistani government emphasizes that many TTP leaders and fighters are based in Afghanistan, and it has repeatedly carried out military operations in Afghan border areas where the TTP is based. The Pakistani government has accused Afghanistan of failing to take sufficient measures against TTP activities.

Regarding the current military operation, the Pakistani government claims it will avoid civilian casualties and target only armed groups, but nearly 100,000 residents are believed to have been forced to flee as a result of the operation.

As tensions rise along the Pakistan–Afghanistan border, the Pakistani government has acknowledged that, under its “Illegal Foreigners Policy,” it is implementing a policy of forcibly deporting primarily Afghan refugees. Since October 2023, 600,000 refugees, fearing arrest or deportation under this policy, have returned to Afghanistan. The UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR) has expressed concern that returning formally recognized refugees to countries where they may face persecution amounts to a human rights violation. While paying respect to Pakistan’s long-standing hospitality toward refugees, it strongly urges the application of exemptions from deportation for refugees who require international protection.

The Pakistani government’s military operations and the forced deportation of refugees along the Pakistan–Afghanistan border are creating humanitarian crises both domestically and internationally.

Learn more about conflict in Pakistan → “Pakistan’s Hidden Conflict: Balochistan”

Learn more about Pakistan and the military establishment → “Pakistan’s Political Story: Military Intervention? Or Flaws in Democracy?”

Learn more about social issues in Afghanistan → “Afghanistan: Turmoil and Stability”

Pakistani soldiers guarding high ground recaptured from the TPP (2009) (Photo: Al Jazeera English / Wikimedia Commons [CC BY-SA 2.0])