List of wars involving Pakistan

Since its establishment in 1947, Pakistan has been involved in numerous armed conflicts, both domestically and internationally. Historically and presently, the primary focus of its military operations has been on neighboring India, with whom Pakistan has fought four major wars, as well as the Siachen conflict, frequent 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.

Conflict	Pakistan and allies	Opponents	Results
Indonesian War of Independence (1945–1949)	Indonesia Supported by:  Australia (after 1946)[6]  United States (from 1949)[7] India (after 1947)[8]  Pakistan[9][10] (support started even before independence)	Netherlands Dutch East Indies APRA Pao An Tui[note 1]  United Kingdom (until 1946)  British Raj (until 1946) Japan (until 1946) Supported by:  Australia (until 1946) Internal Conflict: Darul Islam People's Democratic Front	Victory Indonesian independence from the Netherlands. Dutch recognition of the Indonesian independence in the Dutch-Indonesian Round Table Conference Formation of the United States of Indonesia Creation of the Netherlands-Indonesia Union
First Indo-Pakistani War (1947–1948)[11][12]	India  Indian Army  Indian Air Force[13][14][15] Jammu and Kashmir State Forces	Pakistan  Pakistan Army  Pakistan Air Force (Supply support only) Pakistani paramilitaries Gilgit Scouts[16][17] Kurram Militia[18] Frontier Scouts[18] Pashtun tribal militias[19] Azad Kashmir irregular forces Indian National Army veterans[20] Muslim League National Guard[21] Swat Army[18] Furqan Force[22][23] Hunza state forces[24] Nagar state forces[24] Chitral state forces[25]	Ceasefire[26] One-third of Jammu and Kashmir controlled by Pakistan. Indian control over remainder.[27][28]
Waziristan rebellion (1948–1954)	Pakistan	Faqir of Ipi's forces Pashtun tribe forces Supported by Afghanistan[29][30][31]  India[30][32]  Soviet Union[33][34] (alleged)	Victory Failure to foment an extensive uprising[35] Support for rebellion slowly diminishes[36][37] Commander of rebellion surrenders[38][39] End of Insurrection[38]
First Balochistan conflict (1948)[40][41]	Pakistan	Kalat insurgents	Victory[41] Defeat of the insurgents
Korean War(1950–1953)[42][43]	South Korea United Nations  United States  United Kingdom  Canada  Turkey  Australia  Philippines  New Zealand  Thailand  Ethiopia  Greece  France  Colombia  Belgium  South Africa  Netherlands  Luxembourg Supported by: Pakistan[44][a]  Denmark  Italy  West Germany  India  Israel  Norway  Sweden  Taiwan  Japan  Cuba  El Salvador Spain	North Korea  China  Soviet Union Supported by:  Bulgaria Czechoslovakia East Germany  Hungary  Poland  Romania  Mongolia	Stalemate[46] Formation of the DMZ
Second Balochistan conflict (1958–1959)[47]	Pakistan	Kalat insurgents	Victory[48] Surrender of Nauroz Khan
Bajaur Campaign[49][50]	Pakistan Supported by:  United States (alleged)[51][52]	Afghanistan Pashtun Nationalists Supported by:  Soviet Union (alleged)	Victory Failure of the Afghan invasion Deterioration of Afghanistan–Pakistan relations
Third Balochistan conflict (1963–1969)[53]	Pakistan	Parrari PFAR BLF Bugti militia Supported by: Afghanistan[54] Iraq[55]  Syria[55]	Victory Abolition of the "One Unit" policy[56]
Second Indo-Pakistani War (1965)	Pakistan Supported by:  China[57]  Iran[58]  Turkey[58]  Saudi Arabia[58]  Indonesia[59]	India	Stalemate United Nations mandated ceasefire India had an upper hand in the war[60] No permanent territorial changes (see Tashkent Declaration)
Al-Wadiah War (1969)[61]	Saudi Arabia  Pakistan[62][63]	South Yemen	Victory al-Wadiah reoccupied by Saudi forces[64]
Black September (1970–1971)	Jordan Foreign involvement:  Pakistan[65][66]	PLO  Syria	Victory PLO driven out to Lebanon, Syrian raid repelled
Bangladesh Liberation War (From March 1971) & Third Indo-Pakistani War (From Dec 1971)	Pakistan Supported by:  USA[67][68]  UK[67]  China[69][67]  Iran[70][71]  Ceylon[72][73][74]  Saudi Arabia[75]  Jordan[76] Libya[77]	India Bangladesh (Provisional Government) Supported by:  Soviet Union[78]	Defeat Pakistani surrender in East Pakistan Independence of Bangladesh Simla Agreement
Fourth Balochistan Conflict (1973–1978)[79][80]	Pakistan Iran Supported by:  United States[81][82]  Oman[83]	Baloch separatists Pashtun Zalmay[84] Supported by: Afghanistan[85][86][87][page needed]  India[84] Iraq[88]  Soviet Union[89] PFLP[90]	Victory[91] Return to status quo ante bellum
Dir rebellion (1976)	Pakistan Dir Levies	Dir rebels	Victory Suppression of rebellion[92][93]
Soviet–Afghan War (1979–1989)[94]	Afghan Mujahideen  Pakistan	Soviet Union Afghanistan	Victory[95] Geneva Accords (1988)
Sri Lankan Civil War (1983–2009)	Sri Lanka  Pakistan[96][97][98]  India (1987–1990) Further support: See other's	Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam Supported by:  India (until 1987)	Victory Decisive victory by the Sri Lankan government Rebel Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam organisation is wiped out Sri Lankan government reestablishes control over entire island Tamil National Alliance drops the demand for a separate state
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
Insurgency in Punjab (1984–1995)	Sikh militants Supported by:  Pakistan	India	Defeat Militancy defeated
Second Afghan Civil War (1989–1992)	Afghan Mujahideen rebels Afghan Interim Government[99][100] Hezb-e Islami Gulbuddin (until July 1989)[99] Jamiat-e Islami National Islamic Front of Afghanistan Ittehad-e Islami Hezb-i Islami Khalis Harakat-i Inqilab-i Islami[101] Khalq (1990)[102] Hezb-e Islami Gulbuddin (from July 1989)[99] Junbish-i Milli (from 1992) Foreign Mujahideen: Al Qaeda[100] Maktab al-Khidamat Various factions also fought among each other Supported by: Pakistan[103][104][105] Inter-Services Intelligence  United States  Saudi Arabia United Kingdom China Germany Iran	Afghan PDPA Government Supported by: Soviet Union (until 1991) Commonwealth of Independent States (from 1991)[106] 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[107] (1990–1991)	Kuwait  United States  United Kingdom  France  Saudi Arabia  Egypt Coalition:  Pakistan[108][109] Afghan mujahideen[109]  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[110] Iraqi withdrawal from Kuwait; Emir Jaber Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah restored Heavy casualties and destruction of Iraqi and Kuwaiti Infrastructure
Afghan Civil War (1992–1996)	Taliban (from late 1994) Khalq (pro Taliban factions, from late 1994)  Al-Qaeda (from early 1996) Supported by:  Pakistan[111][112]	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;[113] Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan established Thousands of civilians killed, millions driven from their homes,[114] Kabul heavily damaged.[115] Grave mistreatment of civilians (murder, looting, extortion)[116] Civil war continues (1996–2001)
Afghan Civil War (1996–2001)	Islamic Emirate (Taliban)  Pakistan Al-Qaeda 055 Brigade[117]	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[118]
War in North-West Pakistan First Phase:- (16 March 2004 – 22 February 2017)[119][120] 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 (Only Drone-strikes)  Pakistan[121][122]  United States[123][124][125]  USAF CIA Supported by:  United Kingdom	Taliban Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan Jamaat-ul-Ahrar[note 2] Tehreek-e-Nafaz-e-Shariat-e-Mohammadi[note 3] Lashkar-e-Islam[note 4] al-Qaeda Lashkar-e-Jhangvi Haqqani network Jundallah (until 2014) Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan (until 2015) Turkistan Islamic Party (until 2015) ISIL-aligned groups  Islamic State Khorasan Province Jundallah[126] Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan[127] Jamaat-ul-Ahrar[128]	Victory[129] Most areas under Pakistani control with the Success under Operation Zarb-e-Azab[129][130][131][132] Main force of Pakistani Taliban take refuge in Afghanistan[133] United States-Allied Victory 430 drone strikes confirmed[134] 81 high-level insurgent leaders and thousands of low-level insurgents killed[135] Large number of insurgents killed while some fled to Afghanistan[136] Most recent drone strike launched in January 2018[137]
Fifth Balochistan Conflict (2004–present)[138]	Pakistan Forces involved:  Pakistan Army (until 2008)[139][140][141] Frontier Corps[142] Inter-Services Intelligence Balochistan Police  Iran[143] Forces involved: Army (since 1979) IRGC (since 1980) Border Guard (since 2000) Ministry of Intelligence Imperial Iranian Army (until 1979)	Baloch separatist groups BLA Majeed Brigade BLF LeB (inactive) BLUF BSO (Azad) The Government of Balochistan in Exile (GoBE) 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)[144] Jundallah (2003–12) Islamic State (2015-present)[145] IS-KP IS-PP (since 2019)[146] Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan (since 2007) Lashkar-e-Jhangvi (since 1996)[147] Sipah-e-Sahaba (since 1985)[147]	Ongoing[148][149] Operation Azm-e-Istehkam continues Intermittent series of multilateral talks underway[150][151]
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[152] see others	ISIL Ansar al-Islam SCJL Naqshbandi Army Mujahideen Army	Victory Iraqi territorial integrity preserved ISIL expelled from all strongholds in Iraq[153]
War in North-West Pakistan Second Phase:- ( 23 February 2017 – present)[154][155][156]	Pakistan Pakistan Armed Forces  Pakistan Army  Pakistan Air Force  Pakistan Navy Civil Armed Forces Frontier Corps Frontier Constabulary Pakistan Rangers Pakistani Intelligence Community Pakistan Police Counter Terrorism Department  United States (see Drone strikes in Pakistan, until 2018)	Insurgents Pakistani Taliban Jamaat-ul-Ahrar[note 5] Tehreek-e-Nafaz-e-Shariat-e-Mohammadi[note 6] Lashkar-e-Islam[note 7] Tariq Gidar Group al-Qaeda Lashkar-e-Jhangvi Former belligerents Jundallah (until 2014) Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan (until 2015) Turkistan Islamic Party (until 2015)[157] Supported by:  Afghanistan (denied by Afghanistan)[158][159][160] ISIL-aligned groups: Khorasan Province Jundallah[126] Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan[127] Jamaat-ul-Ahrar[128]	Ongoing Beginning of nationwide large scale operations against insurgency Operation Radd-ul-Fasaad 2600 Kilometer Afghanistan-Pakistan border barrier fenced as of 2023 Large number of insurgents killed while some fled to Afghanistan[161] Heavy insurgent losses and substantial reduction in insurgent activity[162][163] Tribal areas merged into Pakistan, tribal law abolished and writ of constitution established as of 2018[164] End of drone strikes conducted by the United States in Pakistan Jundallah, Tehreek-e-Khilafat, Jamaat-ul-Ahrar, and the Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan join ISIL[126][165][166] Jamaat-ul-Ahrar rejoins the TTP[128] 2022 Pakistani airstrikes in Afghanistan Intermittent series of multilateral talks underway with groups specially with Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan[167][168][169] 2022 ceasefire ends[170][171] 2023 Chitral cross-border attacks 2023 Kurram Parachinar conflict Deportation of 1.1 million foreigners illegally settling in Pakistan[172] 2024 Pakistan-Afghanistan skirmishes Operation Azm-e-Istehkam launched in June 2024 2024 Kurram conflict Pakistan gains control of previously ungoverned Tribal Areas[173][174]

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. claimed neutrality
2. Until 2020, when it re-merged into the TTP.
3. Collaboration with the TTP in 2007.
4. Collaboration with the TTP in 2015.
5. Until 2020, when it re-merged into the TTP.
6. Collaboration with the TTP in 2007.
7. Collaboration with the TTP in 2015.

1. Both the Korean conflict and the 1991 Persian Gulf War involved more troops, but were essentially U.S.-initiated military coalitions that won U.N. Security Council approval. UNOC forces were drawn from such countries as Burma, Sri Lanka, Egypt, Ethiopia, Ghana, India, Indonesia, Ireland, Liberia, Malaya, Mali, Morocco, Nigeria, Pakistan, Sierra Leone, Sudan, Sweden and Tunisia. The United States, the Soviet Union, Britain and Canada provided funding and air transport. The total cost of the four-year operation was $400 million.Pg.244.^[45]