More than 100 Pakistani and 200 Afghan fighters have died in the war between the two countries.
After Russia-Ukraine and Israel-Hamas, now war has almost broken out in two more countries of the world, Pakistan-Afghanistan. Clashes took place between the armies on the border of the two countries on the night of 11 and 12 October. It is said that more than 100 Pakistani and 200 Afghan fighters have died. Let us know who supplies weapons to these two countries and how high-tech they are? Who has more powerful weapons?
Afghanistan and Pakistan, two countries of South Asia, have been victims of poverty due to political instability and terrorism for a long time. Taking advantage of the situation of these two countries which share borders with each other, foreign powers have been dominating them. Even though Pakistan has been an independent country since 1947, it has not been able to make much progress due to several coups. At the same time, after the departure of American troops from Afghanistan in the year 2021, Taliban has captured power. The Taliban government has not got a chance to do much in such a short time.
Reliance on old tanks and armored vehicles
As far as Afghanistan is concerned, this Taliban ruled country has been ranked 118th among 145 countries in the military strength ranking of Global Firepower-2025. The Taliban government had set a target of creating a national army of 1.10 lakh soldiers in the year 2022. After crossing this limit, their number has reached almost 2 lakhs. These Afghan fighters are trained for war in mountainous areas and adverse conditions. They are experts in guerrilla warfare. That means they are experts in sudden attack, sneak attack and quick strategy.
The Afghan army has American and Russian tanks and some old armored vehicles. Photo: AP/PTI
The Taliban government is currently lagging far behind in terms of weapons. It neither has any modern weapon production system nor any special arms deal with any country. In such a situation, they are old weapons from the Soviet era or received from Russia and left behind by the American army while leaving Afghanistan.
Media reports say that the Afghan army has American and Russian tanks and some old armored vehicles. It has more than 50 main battle tanks, which have been received from these two countries. There are said to be more than 300 armored vehicles. The number of artillery is also only 300.
Taliban’s firepower in the air is extremely limited
Afghanistan does not have any major fighter jet with which it can protect itself in the sky. Between 2016 and 2018, light attack aircraft like A-29 Super Tucano were received from America. Their number is around 26. However, in some reports the total number of fighter planes is said to be around 40. The number of helicopters is 30 and the number of transport planes is 15. Some American drones are also with the Taliban.
Afghanistan does not have any such big fighter jet. Photo: AP/PTI
In modern times, when the enemy attacks with missiles sitting hundreds of thousands of kilometers away, it is very important for any country to have air defense systems and missiles. Afghanistan is said to have old ballistic missiles from the Soviet Union era, which are no longer technically effective.
Some media reports also claim that the Taliban has purchased some new missiles and systems in recent years, but there is no information about which country they got them from. It is said that Taliban definitely has some short range anti-aircraft guns and rocket launchers and now it is trying to improve its air defense with the help of Russia.
Pakistan buys arms from China
In terms of military strength, Pakistan is far ahead of its neighboring country Afghanistan. It gets most of its weapons from China and then America. Pakistan, which is on the verge of poverty, has continued its efforts to strengthen the army by taking loans. Globally, Pakistan is the fifth largest arms importer, which has purchased more than 80 percent of its arms from China. At the same time, America has given fighter jets like F-16 to Pakistan.
Pak soldiers killed in Afghanistan brought back
Visuals capture Pakistani soldiers bodies being carried after a deadly TTP ambush in Orakzai.
In recent months, the Pak Army has suffered hundreds of losses from TTP, TTA, and BLA attacks across tribal areas. Morale is plummeting, collapse visible. pic.twitter.com/yKAxBEcZ3s
— AsiaWarZone (@AsiaWarZone) October 13, 2025
How big is Pakistan’s army?
Pakistan’s army is much larger than Afghanistan’s. Pakistan has been ranked 12th in the world in the military strength ranking of Global Firepower-2025. In the year 2024, it had spent about 2.7 percent of its GDP i.e. 10.2 billion US dollars for its defense. It has more than 17 lakh soldiers or military personnel. Pakistani Air Force has 1399 aircraft. Its army is equipped with 1839 tanks. Pakistani Navy is said to have around 121 resources (warships, submarines etc.).
Pakistan has been ranked 12th in the world in the military strength ranking of Global Firepower-2025. Photo: Getty Images
Pakistan also has nuclear weapons. Its nuclear weapons program is mainly based on short and medium range mobile ballistic missiles. With the technical help of China, Pakistan’s nuclear and missile program has become much stronger.
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