List of wars involving Pakistan

Since its establishment in 1947, Pakistan has been involved in numerous armed conflicts both locally and around the world. The main focus of its military operations have both historically and currently been on neighbouring India—against whom Pakistan has fought four major wars in addition to commonly-recurring border skirmishes and standoffs. The two nations have had a hostile and turbulent relationship since their independence from the United Kingdom and subsequent war over the Himalayan region of Jammu and Kashmir. Both India and Pakistan claim Kashmir in its entirety but have not exercised control over the entire region, which remains divided and contested between the two states by the Line of Control. The Kashmir conflict has seen extensive—albeit unsuccessful—intervention and mediation by the United Nations.

Pakistan has also had a turbulent relationship with neighbouring Afghanistan,^[1] characterized by armed border skirmishes and periods of diplomatic tension. The Pakistani government has increased military activity along the Afghanistan–Pakistan border and built a border barrier to crack down on illegal immigration, militancy,^[2] and smuggling.^[3][4]

Outside of its home region of South Asia, Pakistan has also engaged in international conflicts in the Middle East and Africa as part of larger coalitions, and remains one of the largest contributors of troops to various United Nations peacekeeping missions. The country was designated as a major non-NATO ally by the United States in 2004,^[5] and has participated extensively in the American-led War on Terror following the 9/11 attacks.

List

This is a list of wars. For a list of military engagements and battles within wars, See Outline of Pakistan military history for additional information.

  Pakistani victory

  Pakistani defeat

  Another result (e.g. a treaty or peace without a clear result, status quo ante bellum, result unknown or indecisive)

  Ongoing conflict

Conflict	Pakistan and allies	Opponents	Results
First Indo-Pakistani War (1947–1948)[6][7]	Pakistan Azad Kashmir Furqan Force	India Jammu and Kashmir	Ceasefire[8] Partitioning of Kashmir between India and Pakistan
First Balochistan conflict (1948)[9][10]	Pakistan	Kalat insurgents	Victory[10] Defeat of the insurgents
Second Balochistan conflict (1958–1959)[11]	Pakistan	Kalat insurgents	Victory[12] Surrender of Nauroz Khan
Third Balochistan conflict (1963–1969)[13]	Pakistan Supported by: Iran	Parrari PFAR Baloch Liberation Front Bugti militia Supported by: Kingdom of Afghanistan[14] First Republic of Iraq (until 1968)[15] Ba'athist Iraq (from 1968)[15] Syria[15]	Victory Abolition of the "One Unit" policy[16]
Second Indo-Pakistani War (1965)	Pakistan	India	Inconclusive United Nations mandated ceasefire Both sides claim victory No permanent territorial changes (see Tashkent Declaration)
Al-Wadiah War (1969)[17]	Saudi Arabia  Pakistan[18][19]	South Yemen	Victory al-Wadiah reoccupied by Saudi forces[20]
1971 JVP insurrection (1971)	Ceylon United Front (since May 15) SLFP CCP (Pro-Soviet) LSSP Australia Egypt India Pakistan Singapore Soviet Union United Kingdom United States Yugoslavia China	JVP Supported by: North Korea (alleged) ASBPI CCP (Maoist) (alleged)	Victory Rebel forces surrender Ceylonese government reestablishes control over entire island
Bangladesh Liberation War (From March 1971) Third Indo-Pakistani War (From Dec 1971)	Pakistan	Provisional Government of Bangladesh  India	Defeat Independence of Bangladesh Simla Agreement
Fourth Balochistan Conflict (1973–1978)[21][22]	Pakistan Iran	Baloch separatists Pashtun Zalmay[23]	Victory[24] Return to status quo ante bellum
Soviet–Afghan War (1979–1989)[25]	Mujahidin  Pakistan	Soviet Union Afghanistan	Victory[26] Geneva Accords (1988)
Siachen conflict (1984–2003)	Pakistan	India	Defeat Annexation of the Siachen Glacier into India following Operation Meghdoot India captures Quaid Post / Bana Top during Operation Rajiv Ceasefire since 2003
First Afghan Civil War (1989–1992)	Afghan mujahideen rebels Afghan Interim Government[27][28] Hezb-e Islami Gulbuddin (until July 1989)[27] Jamiat-e Islami National Islamic Front of Afghanistan Ittehad-e Islami Hezb-i Islami Khalis Harakat-i Inqilab-i Islami[29] Khalq (1990)[30] Hezb-e Islami Gulbuddin (from July 1989)[27] Junbish-i Milli (from 1992) Foreign Mujahideen: Al Qaeda[28] Maktab al-Khidamat Various factions also fought among each other Supported by: Pakistan[31][32][33] Inter-Services Intelligence United States Saudi Arabia United Kingdom China Germany Iran	PDPA Government Supported by: Soviet Union (until 1991) Commonwealth of Independent States (from 1991)[34] Tajikistan Turkmenistan Uzbekistan Russia (until January 1992) India	Victory Interim Afghan Government victory Dissolution of the Republic of Afghanistan and the Homeland Party Government The Peshawar Accord leads to the creation of the Islamic State of Afghanistan on 28 April 1992 Continued civil war among Mujahideen forces
Gulf War[35] (1990–1991)	Kuwait United States United Kingdom France Saudi Arabia Egypt Coalition: Pakistan[36][37] Afghan mujahideen[37] Argentina Australia  Bahrain Bangladesh Belgium Canada Czechoslovakia Denmark Germany Greece Honduras Hungary Italy Japan Luxembourg Morocco Netherlands New Zealand Niger Norway Oman Philippines Poland Portugal Qatar Romania Senegal Sierra Leone Singapore South Korea Spain Sweden Syria Turkey United Arab Emirates	Iraq	Victory[38] Iraqi withdrawal from Kuwait; Emir Jaber Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah restored Heavy casualties and destruction of Iraqi and Kuwaiti Infrastructure
Second Afghan Civil War (1992–1996)	Taliban (from late 1994) Khalq (pro Taliban factions, from late 1994) Al-Qaeda (from early 1996) Supported by:  Pakistan[39][40]	Islamic State of Afghanistan Northern Alliance Jamiat-e Islami Shura-e Nazar Hezb-e Islami Khalis (until mid-1992) Ittehad-e Islami Harakat-i-Inqilab Jebh-e Nejat-e Melli Mahaz-e Milli Harakat-i Islami Hezb-i Wahdat (until Dec. 1992) Junbish-i Milli (until Jan. 1994; from Aug. 1994) Hezb-e Islami Gulbuddin (from late 1994) Supported by:  Saudi Arabia  Uzbekistan (until Jan. 1994; from Aug. 1994)  Iran (until Dec. 1992)	Victory Taliban victory Taliban take control of Kabul and most of Afghanistan;[41] Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan established Thousands of civilians killed, millions driven from their homes,[42] Kabul heavily damaged.[43] Grave mistreatment of civilians (murder, looting, extortion)[44] Civil war continues (1996–2001)
Third Afghan Civil War (1996–2001)	Islamic Emirate (Taliban) Pakistan Al-Qaeda 055 Brigade[45]	Islamic State (Northern Alliance)	Stalemate Taliban controls up to 85% of Afghanistan including Kabul
Kargil War (1999)	Pakistan	India	Defeat India regains possession of Kargil Return to status quo ante bellum[46]
War in North-West Pakistan First Phase:- (16 March 2004–22 February 2017)[47][48] Drone war (2004–2018) Part of the war on terror and the War in North-West Pakistan Location: Pakistan MQ-1 Predator drones typically used in covert bombing operations in Pakistan.	Pakistan  United States[49][50][51] Pakistan[52][53] United States  USAF CIA Supported by: United Kingdom	Taliban Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan Jamaat-ul-Ahrar[note 1] Tehreek-e-Nafaz-e-Shariat-e-Mohammadi[note 2] Lashkar-e-Islam[note 3] al-Qaeda Lashkar-e-Jhangvi Haqqani network Jundallah (until 2014) Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan (until 2015) Turkistan Islamic Party (until 2015)[55] ISIL-aligned groups  Islamic State Khorasan Province Jundallah[56] Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan[57] Jamaat-ul-Ahrar[54]	Victory[58] Most areas under Pakistani control with the Success under Operation Zarb-e-Azab[58][59][60][61] Main force of Pakistani Taliban take refuge in Afghanistan[62] United States-Allied Victory 430 drone strikes confirmed[63] 81 high-level insurgent leaders and thousands of low-level insurgents killed[64] Large number of insurgents killed while some fled to Afghanistan[65] Most recent drone strike launched in January 2018[66]
Fifth Balochistan Conflict (2004–present)[67]	Pakistan Forces involved: Pakistan Armed Forces  Pakistan Army (until 2008, again from 2024)[68][69][70]  Pakistan Air Force  Pakistan Navy Special Forces: Special Service Group Special Service Group (Navy) Special Services Wing Civil Armed Forces Frontier Corps[71] Frontier Corps Balochistan (North) Frontier Corps Balochistan (South) Pakistan Coast Guards Pakistan Levies Pakistan Police Balochistan Police Counter Terrorism Department Balochistan Levies Pakistani Intelligence community NACTA ISI Military Intelligence FIA Iran[72][73] Forces involved: Iranian Armed Forces Artesh (since 1979)  Ground Forces  Air Force Navy IRGC (since 1980) Ground Forces Aerospace Force Navy Basij Iranian police Border Guard (since 2000) Special forces: Saberin Takavar Brigade 110th Salman Farsi Special Operations Brigade Sepah Navy Special Force 3rd Marine Brigade Ministry of Intelligence Imperial Iranian Army (until 1979)	Baloch separatist groups: BLA Majeed Brigade Fateh Squad BLF Baloch Raaji Aajoi Sangar LeB (inactive) BLUF (2009–2010) BSO (Azad) (inactive) BNA (2022–2023) BRA (2006–2022) UBA (2013–2022) Sectarian groups: Ansar Al-Furqan (since 2013) Jaish ul-Adl (since 2012) Harakat Ansar (2012–13) Hizbul-Furqan (2012–13)[74] Jundallah (2003–12)[75] Islamic State (since 2015)[76] IS-KP (since 2014)[77] IS-PP (since 2019)[78][77] Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan (since 2007) Lashkar-e-Jhangvi (1996-2024)[79] Sipah-e-Sahaba (1985-2018)[79]	Ongoing[80][81] Extension of the conflict into Iran[82] Operation Radd-ul-Fasaad continuous[83] Intermittent series of multilateral talks underway[84][85]
War in Iraq (2013–2017)	Iraq Peshmerga Sinjar Alliance CJTF–OIR United States Canada United Kingdom France Germany Australia Belgium Netherlands Denmark Turkey Jordan Morocco Iran Hezbollah Further support:- Pakistan[86] see others	ISIL Ansar al-Islam SCJL Naqshbandi Army Mujahideen Army	Victory Iraqi territorial integrity preserved ISIL expelled from all strongholds in Iraq[87]
War in North-West Pakistan Second Phase:- ( 23 February 2017 – present)[88][89][90]	Pakistan  United States[49][50][51]	Taliban (major in the Durand Line border skirmishes)[91][92] Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan Jamaat-ul-Ahrar[57] Tehreek-e-Nafaz-e-Shariat-e-Mohammadi[57] Lashkar-e-Islam[57] al-Qaeda Lashkar-e-Jhangvi (until 2024) Jundallah (until 2014) Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan (until 2015) Turkistan Islamic Party (until 2015)[55] ISIL-aligned groups  Islamic State Khorasan Province Jundallah[56] Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan[57] Jamaat-ul-Ahrar[54]	Ongoing[93]
India–Pakistan Conflict (2025)	Pakistan	India	Ceasefire [94] [95][96]

See also

• Outline of Pakistan military history
• Other military conflicts involving Pakistan:
  • Kashmir conflict
  • 2001–2002 India–Pakistan standoff
  • 2008 Indo-Pakistani standoff
  • India–Pakistan border skirmishes (disambiguation)
  • Afghanistan–Pakistan skirmishes
  • 2017 Afghanistan–Pakistan border skirmish
  • 2008–12 Pakistan–United States skirmishes

Notes

1. Until 2020, when it re-merged into the TTP.^[54]
2. Collaboration with the TTP in 2007.
3. Collaboration with the TTP in 2015.