Pakistan's 20-Year War on Militants Still Can't Stop the Bombs

For more than 20 years, Pakistan has sent its army into the rugged western regions that border Afghanistan and Iran. The goal: wipe out Taliban and Baloch separatist militants who want to weaken the government. It has not worked. Every month, scores of soldiers, police officers and ordinary civilians are killed. Militants hit patrols, checkpoints, police stations and government offices using roadside bombs, drones packed with explosives, ambushes and suicide attacks.

Pakistan's military often points to its body count. Its public statements read like scoreboards, listing how many insurgents were killed. Those are real tactical wins, but they haven't produced peace. Each raid tends to create new recruits — relatives, neighbors and survivors who now have a reason to fight. Experts call this the cycle of violence: strike, retaliation, strike again.

The newest worry is that two different insurgencies are starting to work together. One is the Taliban-linked movement in the northwest, in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province. The other is the Baloch separatist movement in the southwest, in Balochistan. They have different goals, but if they share weapons, fighters and safe havens, Pakistan's military could face a single, larger and much harder-to-crack enemy.

Why should someone outside Pakistan care? Pakistan has nuclear weapons, sits next to India, China and Iran, and controls key trade routes. Long-running instability there can spill across borders and reshape regional politics. It also drains money that could go to schools, hospitals and roads. A war that never ends isn't just a Pakistani problem — it's a regional one.