Washington/Jerusalem, October 13, 2025 – U.S. President Donald Trump, en route to the Middle East on a high-stakes diplomatic mission, pledged Sunday to intervene in the escalating border clashes between Pakistan and Afghanistan, framing it as his "eighth war" to solve. The remarks, delivered to reporters aboard Air Force One as Trump headed toward Israel, underscore his administration's aggressive peacemaking agenda, coming just days after brokering a fragile ceasefire in Gaza that has halted two years of devastating conflict.
"This will be my eighth war that I've solved, and I hear there's a war now going on between Pakistan and Afghanistan," Trump declared, his voice carrying the trademark bravado that has defined his foreign policy. "I said I'll have to wait till I get back. I'm doing another one. Because I'm good at solving wars, I'm good at making peace, and it's an honor to do it. I saved millions of lives, millions of lives."
The president's comments, which quickly reverberated across global media and social platforms, arrive against a backdrop of intensified hostilities along the 2,600-kilometer Durand Line—the disputed colonial-era border drawn by the British in 1893 that neither side fully recognizes. Dozens of soldiers from both nations were killed in overnight clashes late Saturday into Sunday, marking some of the deadliest exchanges since the Taliban recaptured Kabul in August 2021. Both Islamabad and the Taliban administration in Afghanistan confirmed the casualties, with each accusing the other of unprovoked aggression.
The latest flare-up erupted after Afghanistan's interim Taliban government alleged that Pakistani forces violated its airspace and bombed a bustling market in the Margha region of Paktika province, a rugged border area, on Thursday night. Explosions rocked the site, killing at least 12 civilians and wounding dozens more, according to Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid. In retaliation, Afghan forces launched what they described as "successful retaliatory operations" targeting Pakistani military posts in provinces like Kunar, Nangarhar, Khost, and Helmand. Mujahid claimed Afghan troops seized three border outposts and inflicted heavy losses, reporting 58 Pakistani soldiers killed and 30 wounded, with operations halting only at the behest of mediators from Qatar and Saudi Arabia.
Pakistan's Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) offered a starkly different account, stating that 23 of its "brave sons" were martyred in repelling an "unprovoked" Taliban assault on multiple posts. In a forceful counteroffensive, Pakistani forces claimed to have eliminated over 200 Taliban fighters and affiliated "terrorists," captured 19 Afghan border positions, and neutralized several training camps. Artillery barrages and tank fire lit up the night sky, with residents in border districts like Chaman and Torkham describing hours of relentless gunfire that sent families fleeing into the hills. "Our children screamed in fear as bullets echoed through the night," recounted Aziz Sayar, a resident of Sawkai district in Afghanistan's Kunar province.
By Sunday morning, Pakistan had shuttered all major crossings, including the vital Torkham and Chaman gateways, stranding thousands of traders, refugees, and families. The closures exacerbate an already dire humanitarian situation, with over 1.7 million Afghan refugees in Pakistan facing renewed uncertainty. Islamabad's move echoes a broader crackdown earlier this year, when it expelled hundreds of thousands amid accusations that Kabul harbors the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP)—a militant group blamed for a surge in attacks inside Pakistan.
Tensions have simmered for years, rooted in mutual recriminations over cross-border militancy. Pakistan accuses the Taliban of providing safe haven to TTP fighters, who have ramped up assaults, killing hundreds of security personnel in 2025 alone. According to the Pakistan Institute for Peace Studies, TTP-linked incidents jumped from 89 in 2021 to 585 through October this year. The Taliban's defense ministry, in turn, decries Islamabad's "repeated sovereignty violations," including drone strikes and ground incursions targeting alleged hideouts. Thursday's alleged bombing in Paktika followed Pakistani airstrikes in Kabul on October 9, which Islamabad said targeted TTP leader Noor Wali Mehsud but which the Taliban labeled an assassination attempt on their soil.
Analysts warn the clashes risk spiraling into a wider conflagration, potentially drawing in regional powers like Iran, India, and China. "This is not just a border skirmish; it's a proxy for deeper geopolitical fractures," said Ibraheem Bahiss, a Kabul-based analyst with the International Crisis Group. Bahiss pointed to complicating factors, including Afghan Foreign Minister Amir Khan Muttaqi's recent visit to India—Islamabad's arch-rival—which coincided with the airstrikes and may have heightened Pakistani paranoia. India, hosting Muttaqi for talks on upgrading ties, has remained silent, but its growing engagement with the Taliban irks Pakistan, which views New Delhi's influence in Kabul with suspicion.
Trump's interventionist rhetoric injects fresh uncertainty—and opportunity—into the fray. The president, who has repeatedly touted his deal-making prowess, referenced past successes like the Abraham Accords normalizing Israel-Arab ties and recent ceasefires in Yemen and Sudan, though critics dispute the "eighth war" tally. His pledge drew mixed reactions online: supporters hailed him as a "peacemaker," while skeptics mocked the offhand announcement as Nobel bait, especially after Trump's recent griping over not winning the 2025 prize. "Trump solving Pak-Afghan? That's like asking a fox to guard the henhouse—bold, but let's see the follow-through," tweeted one X user, echoing broader doubts about U.S. mediation in a region wary of American overreach.
Trump's words come as he embarks on a whirlwind tour to cement gains from the Gaza ceasefire he unveiled on September 29. Landing in Tel Aviv Monday morning, the president will touch down around 9 a.m. local time for a four-hour visit constrained by the Jewish holiday of Simchat Torah, which begins at sundown and marks the second anniversary of the October 7, 2023, Hamas attacks. A formal welcome at Ben Gurion Airport will precede meetings with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and families of the remaining 48 hostages—many expected to be freed under phase one of the deal, which mandates their release in exchange for 2,000 Palestinian prisoners.
The centerpiece: Trump's address to the Knesset at 11 a.m., making him only the fourth U.S. president to speak before Israel's parliament, following Jimmy Carter (1979), Bill Clinton (1994), and George W. Bush (2008). Knesset Speaker Amir Ohana invited him last week, praising Trump as "the greatest friend and ally of the Jewish nation in modern history." In Chagall Hall, he'll join Netanyahu and hostage kin for an emotional gathering, timed to coincide with the 9 a.m. handovers at Gaza's borders. Israeli media speculate the speech will blend victory laps on the truce with vows to ensure Hamas' disarmament in phase two, which envisions a technocratic Gaza governance sans militants and a multinational peacekeeping force.
From Jerusalem, Trump jets to Egypt's Sharm el-Sheikh for the afternoon's "Sharm el-Sheikh Peace Summit," co-chaired with President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi. Over 20 leaders— including Britain's Keir Starmer, France's Emmanuel Macron, Germany's Friedrich Merz, Italy's Giorgia Meloni, Spain's Pedro Sánchez, and Turkey's Recep Tayyip Erdoğan—will convene to endorse Trump's 20-point framework. Notably absent: Israel, Hamas, and Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas, whose attendance remains unconfirmed amid Fatah-Hamas rivalries. Iran's President Masoud Pezeshkian declined an invite, citing Trump's involvement as a non-starter.
Cairo frames the summit as a bid "to end the war in the Gaza Strip, enhance efforts to bring peace and stability to the Middle East, and usher in a new phase of regional security and stability." A signing ceremony for the peace plan is slated, with UN Secretary-General António Guterres expected to pledge reconstruction aid. Since the October 10 ceasefire activation, aid convoys have surged into Gaza—over 500 trucks daily via Rafah and Kerem Shalom—rehabilitating hospitals, bakeries, and water systems per January 2025 precedents. Yet, the enclave remains scarred: 78% of structures damaged, 90% of 2.3 million residents displaced, and over 67,600 Palestinian deaths, per Gaza's Health Ministry.
The Gaza truce, hailed by Trump as a "historic breakthrough," credits his envoys Steve Witkoff and son-in-law Jared Kushner for marathon Doha-Cairo talks. Phase one, a 60-day pause, prioritizes hostage swaps and aid; phase two tackles disarmament and governance. Arab states like Saudi Arabia and the UAE have endorsed it, countering Iran's waning influence. But hardliners on both sides eye it warily—Netanyahu demands "Hamas erased," while Hamas insists on full Israeli withdrawal.
Trump's Pakistan-Afghanistan tease fits his pattern of expansive diplomacy, from Bagram Air Base demands to Yemen mediation. Regional powers like China and Russia, who convened in Moscow last week to oppose U.S. bases in Afghanistan, may bristle at further American meddling. Pakistan's Shehbaz Sharif vowed a "strong retaliation" akin to its May 2025 near-war with India, while Taliban officials paused operations but warned of "resolute defense."
As displaced Gazans trek north amid rubble-strewn roads, and border villages in Kurram huddle under intermittent shelling, Trump's dual-track gambit tests the limits of his self-proclaimed prowess. "The priority is protecting people," echoed Qatari mediator Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani last week. With phase one ticking and South Asian tensions boiling, the world braces for whether Trump's "honor" yields peace—or peril.
