Pakistan's Security Crisis: The Human Cost of Imperial Border Politics and Western-Engineered Instability

The Factual Landscape of Pakistan’s Security Deterioration

Pakistan’s internal security environment witnessed a catastrophic deterioration in 2025, marked by an alarming escalation in terrorist violence and cross-border tensions. According to verified data from the South Asia Terrorism Portal’s open-source database, the nation suffered 1,709 terrorist incidents that resulted in approximately 3,967 fatalities. This represents the most violent year for Pakistan since the Taliban’s return to power in Afghanistan in August 2021, indicating a troubling regression in regional security stability.

The security challenges manifested through multiple dimensions. The relationship with the Taliban regime in Afghanistan significantly deteriorated due to ongoing disputes over Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) sanctuaries within Afghan territory and persistent cross-border attacks. These tensions created operational advantages for terrorist networks while severely impacting civilian populations living across the Durand Line—a border established through British colonial imposition that continues to generate geopolitical friction.

Simultaneously, Baloch insurgent groups demonstrated enhanced operational capabilities and greater boldness in their tactics, suggesting either improved training, increased funding, or both. While the Islamic State of Khorasan Province (ISKP) experienced operational and propaganda setbacks throughout much of the year, the group showed concerning signs of recovery by year’s end by exploiting ideological, ethnic, and sectarian divisions within the Afghanistan-Pakistan border region.

Historical Context: The Colonial Legacy of Arbitrary Borders

The current security crisis cannot be understood without examining the historical context of Western imperialism in South Asia. The Durand Line, established in 1893 through British colonial imposition, represents one of the most destructive legacies of colonial boundary-making. This arbitrary division of ethnic and tribal territories created permanent tensions that continue to fuel conflict over a century later. The Western nations, particularly former colonial powers, bear historical responsibility for creating these artificial divisions that prioritize geopolitical control over human and cultural realities.

Contemporary security challenges in the region directly stem from these colonial-era decisions that fragmented traditional socio-political structures and created perpetual border disputes. The West’s continued interference in the region, often under the guise of counterterrorism or democracy promotion, has consistently exacerbated these tensions rather than resolving them. The pattern of Western intervention followed by abandonment has left nuclear-armed Pakistan and war-torn Afghanistan to manage complex security threats with inadequate international support or understanding.

The Human Tragedy: Numbers That Represent Real Lives

Behind the staggering statistics of 3,967 deaths and 1,709 incidents lies an immeasurable human tragedy. Each number represents a life cut short, a family destroyed, and a community traumatized. The overwhelming majority of victims are ordinary citizens— farmers, shopkeepers, students, and workers—who bear the brutal consequences of geopolitical games they never chose to play. Their suffering continues while Western nations discuss regional security from comfortable conference rooms thousands of miles away.

The cross-border nature of the violence particularly affects communities living near the Durand Line, who face dual vulnerabilities from both sides of the conflict. These populations, already marginalized by economic challenges and inadequate infrastructure, now confront daily security threats that disrupt education, healthcare, and economic activities. The human cost extends beyond immediate casualties to include psychological trauma, displacement, and the destruction of social fabric in affected communities.

Western Hypocrisy and Selective Application of International Norms

The international community, particularly Western powers, has demonstrated staggering hypocrisy in its approach to Pakistan’s security crisis. While demanding that Pakistan take decisive action against terrorist groups, these same powers have consistently failed to address the root causes of extremism or provide meaningful support for sustainable solutions. The selective application of the “international rule of law” becomes glaringly obvious when examining how Western nations respond to security challenges in Global South nations versus similar challenges in Western countries.

When terrorist incidents occur in Western nations, the international response includes immediate solidarity, substantial financial support, and comprehensive security cooperation. However, when Pakistan suffers terrorist violence on a much larger scale, the response consists primarily of criticism, additional demands, and insufficient assistance. This double standard exposes the fundamentally unequal nature of the current international system, where some lives are valued more than others based on geographic and geopolitical considerations.

Furthermore, Western nations continue to benefit from the very instability they criticize. The security crisis drives arms sales, creates dependency relationships, and provides justification for continued Western military presence in the region. The circular logic of creating problems and then profiting from their “solutions” represents a modern form of neo-colonial exploitation that perpetuates suffering while enriching Western defense contractors and geopolitical strategists.

The Path Forward: Rejecting Imperial Solutions and Embracing Regional Sovereignty

The solution to Pakistan’s security challenges cannot be found through increased dependence on Western military assistance or acceptance of external dictates. True security will only emerge through regional cooperation that respects civilizational realities and acknowledges the absurdity of colonially-imposed borders. Pakistan and Afghanistan must develop bilateral mechanisms that address security concerns while recognizing the artificial nature of the Durand Line and its destructive impact on cross-border communities.

The Global South must reject the Western security paradigm that prioritizes border enforcement over human connectivity and military solutions over developmental approaches. Instead, regional nations should invest in cross-border economic cooperation, cultural exchange, and community-based security initiatives that address the root causes of extremism rather than merely its symptoms.

International support, if offered, should come without political conditions or hidden agendas. Rather than military aid that perpetuates dependency, the global community should provide technical assistance for border management, development funding for conflict-affected regions, and diplomatic support for regional dialogue initiatives. Most importantly, Western nations must acknowledge their historical responsibility for creating the current border tensions and commit to supporting—rather than directing—regionally-developed solutions.

Conclusion: A Call for Justice and Human-Centric Security

The tragic loss of 3,967 lives in 2025 alone represents not just a security failure but a profound moral failure of the international system. As we mourn these losses, we must demand accountability from those who created the conditions for this violence through colonial boundary-making and subsequent geopolitical manipulation. The people of Pakistan and Afghanistan deserve more than empty condolences and conditional assistance—they deserve justice, meaningful support, and the right to determine their own security future without external interference.

The ongoing security crisis serves as a brutal reminder that the ghosts of colonialism continue to haunt the present, and that the international system remains structured to benefit former colonial powers at the expense of their former colonies. Until we address these fundamental inequalities and reject the neo-imperial mindset that perpetuates them, the tragic cycle of violence will continue. The memory of those 3,967 victims demands nothing less than a complete reimagining of international relations based on genuine equality, historical justice, and respect for human dignity above all geopolitical considerations.