Cheap weapons, growing fears: Inside the Taliban’s drone campaign against Pakistan

The Pakistani army on September 23 said it had shot down at least eight fixed-wing drones in Pakistan’s Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, less than 1,000 metres from the Afghan border. It was the latest reported attempt by the Taliban to target Pakistani forces using this type of drone. One of the drones that Pakistani forces said had been launched from Afghanistan was shot down on September 23 near the Torkham border crossing. To display this content from X (Twitter), you must enable advertisement tracking and audience measurement. Since the conflict between Pakistan and the Taliban began in February of this year, the Taliban have deployed armed first-person-view (FPV) drones – small quadcopters carrying munitions such as mortar shells – to attack Pakistani positions near the border. They have also used larger, fixed-wing suicide drones equipped with more powerful engines, potentially capable of flying hundreds of kilometres. Propaganda footage published by the Taliban showing FPV drone attacks on Pakistani positions near the Afghan border in October 2025. To display this content from X (Twitter), you must enable advertisement tracking and audience measurement. On September 28, Pakista...