Pakistan Bombs Kandahar Drone Base After Taliban Drones Reach Rawalpindi

Pakistan's air force bombed a Taliban drone facility in Kandahar late Saturday. Hours earlier, President Zardari declared that Afghan drone attacks on Pakistani civilians had "crossed a red line." The strike targeted the base Islamabad says launched drones at Rawalpindi — home to Pakistan's military headquarters — and Quetta a day earlier.

Two children in Quetta were injured by falling debris from intercepted drones. Two more people were hurt elsewhere. The Taliban called its strikes a response to Pakistani airstrikes that killed six civilians in Kabul and eastern Afghanistan on Friday.

Both capitals are now trading blows. And neither side is backing down.

Three Weeks of Escalation

What started as Pakistani airstrikes on TTP camps in late February has become something neither government can walk back. Afghanistan's air force claims it hit military sites near Islamabad. Pakistan says it stopped an infiltration at the Chaman border crossing, killing one Taliban soldier.

Drones reaching Rawalpindi changed the equation. Rawalpindi isn't just any city — it's where Pakistan's military command structure sits. Even "rudimentary drones," as Pakistan's military called them, flying that far means this conflict has outgrown border skirmishing.

Afghanistan's Defense Ministry said its forces "carried out operations along the Durand Line in the eastern zone of Kunar and Nangarhar provinces." Pakistan hit Kam Air fuel depots near Kandahar airport — depots the Afghan government says supply civilian and UN flights.

The Economic Collapse Nobody Can Ignore

The war is happening inside a fuel crisis that's gutting Pakistan from within.

Pakistan imports over 85% of its crude through the Strait of Hormuz. Iran's blockade of that strait -- now in its third week -- has effectively cut Pakistan's energy lifeline. Petrol hit PKR 276 per litre after a 20% hike on March 6. It's projected to reach PKR 321 by month's end.

PM Sharif approved 5-30% salary cuts for all state-owned enterprise employees. The government imposed a 4-day work week. Schools are shifting online Monday -- but nearly half of Pakistan's 250 million people are poor, and many kids don't have a laptop.

"Pakistan is already bankrupt and surviving loan by loan," Pakistani economist Kaiser Bengali told the New York Times. "Any prolonged disruption could topple its economy."

The timing is brutal. Ramadan is ending. Families preparing for Eid al-Fitr are canceling hometown trips. Farmers heading into harvest season can't afford fuel. The IMF programme that's been keeping Pakistan financially alive is now imperiled.

The Iran Connection: Pakistan's Two-Front Squeeze

This isn't happening in isolation. The Iran war created the oil crisis that's strangling Pakistan's war capacity.

Pakistan's Navy has deployed escorts for merchant vessels trying to navigate disrupted Hormuz shipping lanes. Pakistani F-16 Block 52s are in Saudi Arabia for "Spears of Victory 2026" -- officially an exercise, practically an operational deployment under the countries' mutual defense agreement. If Saudi Arabia gets drawn deeper into the Iran conflict, Pakistan's obligations could pull it in too.

Iran used to be a potential energy alternative for Pakistan. The long-discussed Iran-Pakistan gas pipeline was supposed to reduce Islamabad's dependence on Gulf shipping routes. That option died the moment US-Israeli strikes began.

China is mediating the Afghanistan border. Turkey is trying too. But neither has enough leverage to stop a conflict where drone strikes have reached capital cities on both sides.

What the World Sees -- and Doesn't

International media is finally covering Pakistan-Afghanistan as a real conflict. For two weeks, Iran headlines buried it. The "forgotten war" framing is itself becoming a story — the LA Times, NYT, DW, and multiple Indian outlets all ran features this week.

Indian media frames it strategically. The Indian Express called it a moment where "many of Pakistan's foreign policy bets seem to be going wrong at the same time." Times Now compared Indian vs. Pakistani resilience to the oil shock. The subtext: India is better positioned, and Pakistan's weakness is India's opportunity.

Beijing's calculus is different. China needs Pakistan stable for Belt and Road, Iran fighting to drain US resources, and its own oil supply protected. So it mediates one conflict while covertly supporting the other — BeiDou navigation for Iranian missiles, diplomatic calls for calm in Kabul.

What Comes Next

The trajectory is clear. It's not good.

Pakistan's fuel reserves are nearing critical. Every day Hormuz stays closed, the economic pressure compounds. Salary cuts and 4-day weeks are stopgaps, not solutions.

Drones reaching Rawalpindi changed the military calculus. Pakistan's response — bombing Kandahar — escalates further. Both governments are locked in a cycle where backing down looks like losing.

China and Turkey's mediation is the only diplomatic thread. If it fails, this war grinds on with an economy that can't sustain it.

Three weeks ago, Pakistan was managing a border dispute. Now it's fighting a war on its western front, facing economic collapse from its southwestern front, and watching Saudi obligations threaten to drag it into a third. No country can sustain that math for long.