Paktika

Paktika became the epicenter of Afghan-Pakistani military confrontation in December 2024. On December 24, Pakistani jets struck seven locations across four villages in Barmal district—Laman, Margha, and Murg Bazaar (which was reportedly completely destroyed). Pakistan claimed 71 militants killed; the Taliban government and UN confirmed at least 46 civilian deaths including women and children. The strikes targeted TTP commanders and training camps in retaliation for a December 21 attack that killed 16 Pakistani security personnel.

The province exemplifies border zone violence where state sovereignty becomes contested ground. A February 2025 UN Security Council document listed Paktika among provinces where the Taliban shows "permissiveness" toward TTP militants—the same armed group Pakistan targets with airstrikes. The TTP, with an estimated 6,000-6,500 fighters in Afghanistan according to 2024 UN reports, uses this southeastern border belt as operational space. Each escalation cycle damages civilian populations caught between Pakistani counterterrorism operations and Taliban tolerance of cross-border militants.

Paktika shares the tribal governance patterns of the larger Loya Paktia region. Pashtun confederacies here maintain authority structures that predate and transcend the Durand Line—the colonial-era border that tribes never accepted as legitimate division. The Haqqani Network maintains strongholds in this territory. December 2024's airstrikes marked the third Pakistani air assault on Afghan territory in two years, a pattern suggesting neither diplomatic resolution nor military deterrence has stabilized the boundary. The province absorbs repeated shocks without structural change—like scar tissue that forms and reforms over wounds that never fully heal.