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Pakistan's war on terror
Part of the war on terror and the spillover of the War in Afghanistan (2001-2021)
Pakistani soldiers overlooking Swat valley
Pakistani soldier taking combat position
Marriott Hotel in Islamabad after terrorist attack
Pakistan Army clearance operations in Mir Ali, North Waziristan
Pakistani F-16s
Pakistani soldier checking a militant hideout in Swat
PAF C-130E Hercules

Clockwise from top-left:
Pakistani soldiers overlooking the Swat valley from the highest point after successfully defeating the Taliban during Operation Black Thunderstorm in 2009; Pakistani soldier taking combat position; Pakistan Air Force F-16s, which along with other fighters were extensively used to target Taliban hideouts and positions throughout the war; Pakistani C-130E Hercules, which were used for airborne operations; Pakistani soldier inspecting a militant hideout in Swat during the Second Battle of Swat in 2009; Marriott Hotel in Islamabad following a terrorist attack in 2008; Pakistani soldiers carrying out clearance operations in Mir Ali, North Waziristan during Operation Zarb-e-Azb in 2014
DateOfficial: 16 March 2004 – present (20 years, 1 month and 2 weeks)
Incidents since: 1 January 2000 – present (24 years, 3 months, 4 weeks and 1 day)
Location
Pakistan (with occasional spillovers in Afghanistan and Iran)
Status

Ongoing

First phase (2004-2017):
Second phase (2017-present):
Belligerents

Pakistan Pakistan


United States United States (until 2018)
(see Drone strikes in Pakistan)

Taliban-aligned insurgent groups:


ISIL-aligned groups:


Baloch separatist insurgent groups:


Sindhi separatist insurgent groups:


Sectarian groups:


Supported by:
Taliban Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan (since 2021) (alleged)

Islamic Republic of Afghanistan Islamic Republic of Afghanistan (until 2021) (alleged)

India India (alleged)
Commanders and leaders

Arif Alvi (2018-present)
Anwaar-ul-Haq Kakar (2023-present)
Asim Munir (2022-present)

Former presidents
Mamnoon Hussain (2013–2018)
Asif Ali Zardari (2008–2013)
Pervez Musharraf (until 2008)

Former prime ministers
Shehbaz Sharif (2022–2023)
Imran Khan (2018–2022)
Nasirul Mulk (2018)
Shahid Khaqan Abbasi (2017–2018)
Nawaz Sharif (2013–2017)
Mir Hazar Khan Khoso (2013)
Raja Pervaiz Ashraf (2012–2013)
Yusuf Raza Gilani (2008–2012)
Muhammad Mian Soomro (2007–2008)
Shaukat Aziz (2004–2007)
Shujaat Hussain (2004)
Zafarullah Khan Jamali (until 2004)

Former military commanders
Qamar Javed Bajwa (COAS, 2016–2022)
Raheel Sharif (COAS, 2013–2016)
Ashfaq Parvez Kayani (COAS, 2007–2013)
LtGen Masood Aslam
LtGen Tariq Khan
MajGen Sanaullah Khan Niazi 
LtGen Mushtaq Ahmed Baig 
MajGen Ameer Faisal Alavi 
Colonel Imam 
ACM Rao Qamar Suleman
Tahir Rafique Butt

Army Officers
Lt. Col. Haroon-ul-Islam 
Capt. Wali Wazir 
Capt. Akash Rabbani 
Capt. Saad Bin Amir 
Lt. Nasir Khalid 
Capt. Abdullah Zafar 
Capt. Muhammad Sabih 
Lt. Agha Muqadas 


United States Donald Trump (2017–2018)
United States Barack Obama (2009–2017)
United States George W. Bush (until 2009)

Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan
Noor Wali Mehsud
Maulana Fazlullah 
Khan Said 'Sajna' 
Adnan Rashid
Mangal Bagh 
Hakimullah Mehsud 
Abdullah Mehsud 
Baitullah Mehsud 
Maulvi Nazir 
Hafiz Gul Bahadur
Omar Khalid Khorasani 
Khalid Balti 
Azam Tariq 
Shahidullah Shahid 
Mullah Dadullah 
Wali-ur-Rehman 
Qari Hussain 
Faqir Mohammed ( POW)
Maulvi Omar ( POW)
Muslim Khan ( POW)
Hayatullah ( POW)
Shah Dauran 
Sher Muhammad Qusab 
Nek Muhammad Wazir 
Abdul Rashid Ghazi 
Sufi Muhammad ( POW)

al-Qaeda al-Qaeda
Ayman al-Zawahiri 
Osama bin Laden 
Ilyas Kashmiri 
Mohammad Hasan Khalil al-Hakim 
Atiyah Abd al-Rahman 
Abu Laith al-Libi 
Abu Yahya al-Libi 
Abu-Zaid al Kuwaiti 
Saeed al-Masri 
Fahid Mohammed Ally Msalam 
Sheikh Ahmed Salim Swedan 
Sheikh Fateh 
Adnan Gulshair el Shukrijumah 
Asim Umar 
Khalid Sheikh Mohammed ( POW)
Abu Faraj al-Libbi ( POW)
Ramzi bin al-Shibh ( POW)
Abu Zubaydah ( POW)

ETIM Group
Emeti Yakov 
Memetimin Memet ( WIA)


Islamic State ISIL
Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi 
Hafiz Saeed Khan 
Abdul Rahman Ghaleb 
Abdul Rahum Muslim Dost (2014-2015)

Islamic State IMU Group
Usman Ghazi 
Tohir Yuldashev 
Najmiddin Jalolov 
Abu Usman Adil 


Baloch separatist insurgent groups
Balach Marri 
Aslam Baloch, alias Achu 
Abdul Nabi Bangulzai 
Hyrbyair Marri
Allah Nazar Baloch
Brahumdagh Bugti
Haji Wali Kalati  Surrendered
Mehran Marri
Javed Mengal
Gulzar Imam  Surrendered
Sarfaraz Bangulzai  Surrendered
Strength

Pakistan Pakistan
345,000 Pakistani troops

  • In Khyber Pakhtunkhwa: 200,000
  • In Balochistan: 145,000

Unknown no. of air squadrons of Navy and Pakistan Air Force fighter jets, including JF-17 and F-16 jets
~80,000 Frontier Corps


United States United States
UAV drones
CIA operatives
U.S. Special Operations Forces

~25,000 TTP militants
~2,000 Lashkar-e-Islam militants
~1,000 TNSM militants
300–3,000 al-Qaeda militants


Islamic State ISIL

  • Jundallah: 12,000–20,000 (disputed)
  • IMU: 500–1,000

BLA: 6,000
Casualties and losses

Since 2000:
Pakistan 8,528 soldiers and LEAs killed


United States 22 soldiers killed
NATO 2 other NATO personnel killed

Since 2000:
37,426 militants killed

25,389 civilians killed (since 2000)
Islamic Republic of Afghanistan 7 ANDSF personnel killed
Since 2000: 71,374 killed overall (as of March 2024)
Over 3.44 million civilians displaced (2009)
Over 6 million civilians displaced (2003–2019)
2024 Afghanistan–Pakistan skirmishes
Part of Afghanistan-Pakistan skirmishesInsurgency in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Insurgency in Balochistan

The Durand Line (Red line) border between Afghanistan and Pakistan.
Date16 – 31 March 2024
Location
Result Status quo ante bellum
Belligerents

  Afghanistan
Pakistani Taliban


BLA
  Pakistan
Commanders and leaders

Afghanistan Hibatullah Akhundzada
Afghanistan Hasan Akhund
Qari Fasihuddin
Noor Wali Mehsud
Sehra alias Janan 
Abdullah Mehsud


Bashir Zeb
Asif Ali Zardari
Pakistan Shehbaz Sharif
General Asim Munir
Zaheer Ahmad Babar
Adm. Naveed Ashraf
Units involved

Afghan Armed Forces

Pakistani Taliban militants

  • Hafiz Gul Bahadur Group
  • Jaish-e-Fursan-e-Muhammad Group

BLA militants

  • Majeed brigades

Pakistan Armed Forces

Casualties and losses

Afghanistan 1 soldier killed
64 militants killed


15 militants killed


Total: 80 killed
Pakistan 15 soldiers killed
Pakistan 5 policemen killed
10 civilians killed (including 5 Chinese nationals)
Mali War
Part of the Islamist insurgency in the Sahel and the war on terror

Military situation in Mali (2023). For a detailed map, see here.
Date16 January 2012 – present
(12 years, 3 months and 2 weeks)
Location
Result Ongoing
Belligerents

  Mali
  Russia (since 2021)

  France (2013–22)
Supported by:


MINUSMA (2013–23)

Supported by:


Pro-government militias:
Ganda Iso
MAA-Loyaliste
MSA (2016–)
GATIA


Ethnic militias

Coordination of Azawad Movements
(CMA)

Al-Qaeda and allies

Nigerian jihadist volunteers (2012–13)

  Islamic State

Commanders and leaders

Mali Assimi Goïta (2021–)
Mali Choguel Kokalla Maïga (2021–)
Russia Yevgeny Prigozhin  X

ECOWAS

Mohamed Lamine Ould Sidatt (NLFA)
Housseine Khoulam (NLFA)
Azawad Bilal Ag Acherif
Azawad Mahmoud Ag Aghaly
Azawad Moussa Ag Acharatoumane
Azawad Mohamed Ag Najem
Algabass Ag Intalla (MIA)
Iyad Ag Ghaly
Mokhtar Belmokhtar 
Abdelhamid Abou Zeid 
Abdelmalek Droukdel 
Ahmed al-Tilemsi 
Omar Ould Hamaha 
Ba Ag Moussa 
Strength

Mali 6,000–7,000
(pre-war: ~12,150)
France 3,000
Chad 2,000
Germany 1,400 (2022)
Egypt 1,216
Nigeria 1,200
Togo 733
Sierra Leone 650
Burkina Faso 500
Ivory Coast 500
Niger 500
Senegal 500
Netherlands 450
Sweden 400 (2021)
China 395
United Kingdom 300
Benin 300
Canada 250
Guinea 144
Ghana 120
Estonia 100
Liberia ~50
Total: 23,564+


European Union 545 ( EUTM)

Full list
  • France 207 (command)
  • Germany 73
  • Spain 59
  • United Kingdom 40
  • Czech Republic 33
  • Belgium 31
  • Poland 20
  • Italy 14
  • Sweden 14
  • Finland 10
  • Hungary 10
  • Republic of Ireland 8
  • Austria 7
  • Bulgaria 4
  • Greece 4
  • Slovenia 3
  • Estonia 2
  • Lithuania 2
  • Latvia 2
  • Luxembourg 1
  • Portugal 1
  • Romania 1

~500 (FLNA)
Azawad 3,000

1,200–3,000

  • Boko Haram: 100
  • Ansar Dine: 300
Casualties and losses

Mali 2,750 killed
Chad 108 killed
Russia 77 killed
France 59 killed
Guinea 17 killed
Burkina Faso 16 killed
Togo 16 killed
Niger 15 killed
Egypt 13 killed
Bangladesh 8 killed
Nigeria 7 killed
Senegal 6 killed
Ivory Coast 4 killed
Netherlands 4 killed
Germany 2 killed
Sri Lanka 2 killed
China 1 killed
Liberia 1 killed
Portugal 1 killed
Benin 1 killed
Cambodia 1 killed
El Salvador 1 killed
Jordan 1 killed
Total killed: 3,111


2,228 militiamen killed


Total killed: 5,339
Azawad 834 killed 4,461 killed Islamic State 1,910 killed
9,151 civilians killed
21,695 killed overall (as of 26 January 2024)
Displaced:
~144,000 refugees fled abroad
~230,000 internally displaced persons
Total: ≈374,000
Jihadist insurgency in Burkina Faso
Part of the Islamist insurgency in the Sahel and the spillover of the Mali War

Smoke rising from French Embassy in Ouagadougou, 2 March 2018, during the 2018 Ouagadougou attacks.
Date23 August 2015 – present
(8 years, 8 months and 1 week)
Location
Status Ongoing
Territorial
changes
Around 40% of the country controlled by non-state forces
Belligerents

  Burkina Faso

  France (until 2023)

Supported by:

Al-Qaeda

Ansar Dine
Ansar ul Islam


  Islamic State

Commanders and leaders

Casualties and losses

Burkina Faso 3,275 killed

  • 1,683 soldiers, gendarmes and police personnel
  • 1,592 VDPs and other militiamen

France 2 killed

Total killed: 3,277

7,317 killed


Islamic State 1,540 killed
8,405 civilians killed
20,539 killed overall (as of 26 January 2024)
2.06 million displaced
Anglophone Crisis
Part of the Anglophone problem

     Separatist presence
     Government presence
     Contested
Date9 September 2017 – present
(6 years, 7 months and 3 weeks)
Location
Status Ongoing
Belligerents
  Cameroon   Ambazonia
Commanders and leaders
Paul Biya
Philémon Yang
Joseph Ngute
René Claude Meka
Valere Nka
Sisiku Julius Ayuk Tabe
Samuel Ikome Sako
Ayaba Cho Lucas
Ebenezer Akwanga
... and others
Units involved
FAC
Vigilante groups
Militias of local chiefs
ADF
SOCADEF
ASC
... and others
Strength
12,500 troops, 9,000 militia (total size of army) 2,000–4,000 fighters
(as of May 2019)
Casualties and losses
1,208 killed (as of 26 January 2024) 1,706 killed (as of 26 January 2024)
2,491 civilians killed (direct violence)
5,405 killed overall (as of 26 January 2024)
700,000 internally displaced
63,800 refugees in Nigeria (as of March 2021)