Pakistan’s forever war and the politics of exhaustion
South China Morning Post
by Jawad KhalidMarch 4, 2026
The latest exchange of air strikes and border clashes between Pakistan and Afghanistan has once again pushed the region to the brink, reviving a dread among those who have lived through this cycle before, the continuation of a war that never truly ended.
The so-called war on terror has been waged for over two decades, with no end in sight. Since 2001, the war has claimed more than 33,000 civilian and security forces lives in Pakistan and displaced millions internally. Yet a fundamental question...
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Originally published on South China Morning Post on 3/4/2026