Pakistan-Afghanistan fighting reignites after the Kohat police attack

4 October 2026

DW reports that the conflict between Pakistan and Afghanistan reignited in mid-September after months of comparative calm.
On 18 September an attack on a police compound in Kohat, in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, took place; a splinter group of the Pakistani Taliban (TTP) took responsibility for it.
Pakistan says Afghanistan's Taliban government gives the TTP a safe haven; Afghanistan denies this.
Clashes at the border and Pakistani air strikes inside Afghanistan followed, including in Paktika and Kunar provinces.
On Thursday night, 1 October, Pakistan struck targets in Afghanistan. The Taliban say between nine and 10 civilians were killed; Pakistan says the strike killed 22 militants. DW says the results of the attack are disputed.
The border follows the Durand Line, drawn in 1893 by a British diplomat and an Afghan emir.