How do Pakistan and Afghan Taliban militaries stack up as tensions flare?

Tensions between Pakistan and Afghanistan have flared as Pakistan continues to respond to the Afghan Taliban’s unprovoked attacks. 

Information and Broadcasting Minister Attaullah Tarar emphasised that Pakistan, in its ongoing war against terrorism, is engaging only those military and terrorist targets, along with the infrastructure of the Afghan Taliban regime, that are being directly or indirectly used to plan, facilitate, shelter, train, or abet terrorist attacks inside Pakistan.

The strikes carried out on the night of March 16 in Kabul and Nangarhar, he underlined, were precise, deliberate and professional. “No hospital, no drug rehabilitation centre, and no civilian facility was targeted. The targets were military and terrorist infrastructure, including ammunition and technical equipment storage sites and other installations linked to hostile activity against Pakistan,” he stressed.

Amid fears of a sharp escalation in the conflict, here is a look at how the militaries of the neighbours, according to data from the London-based International Institute for Strategic Studies.

Overview

Pakistan's government has invested heavily in its military, building up its nuclear programme and modernising all branches with the help of equipment from its main defence partner China.

Afghanistan's forces have been constrained by the Afghan Taliban government's lack of international recognition, which has restricted access to parts, expertise and maintenance.

Personnel

Pakistan has 660,000 active personnel — 560,000 in the army, 70,000 in the air force and 30,000 in the navy.

The Afghan Taliban's military is around a quarter of the size with 150,000 active personnel.

Fighting vehicles and artillery

Pakistan has more than 6,000 armoured fighting vehicles and over 4,600 pieces of artillery.

The Afghan forces have armoured fighting vehicles including Soviet-era main battle tanks, armoured personnel carriers and autonomous underwater vehicles.

There are no reliable estimates of the size of their fleet or of their artillery stockpile.

Air force

Pakistan has 422 combat aircraft and more than 260 helicopters.

Afghanistan has no fighter jets and no real air force to speak of. It is known to possess at least six aircraft — some of them dating back to the Soviet era — and 22 helicopters, although it is not clear how many are in service.

The Afghan Taliban has used drones to target Pakistan in recent months, Reuters has reported, though their origin and numbers are not known.

Nuclear

Pakistan is a nuclear power that continues to invest in its nuclear programmes. Afghanistan does not have a nuclear arsenal.