Transnational terrorism in the twenty-first century is a unique threat that has sparked equally unique responses from nations at the receiving end of it, particularly the US. Some of these responses, however, have ignored both provisions of international law and the political realities prevailing in regions of Pakistan where the Drone strikes have been conducted. This poses various policy problems as the US has continuously used legal lacunae in international humanitarian law to carry on its “war on terror.” This paper addresses the problem by proposing a new form of armed conflict known as “transnational armed conflict,” which accounts for the unique nature of a conflict between a State and a non-State actor operating from the territory of another State. It allows for the setting of appropriate impact and assessment thresholds that could effectively bring such countermeasures in compliance with the accepted principles of international humanitarian law.

I. Introduction
 II. Ground Realities in Pakistan andthe Distinction Principle
  A. Ground Realities in Pakistan
  B. The Distinction Principle
 III. The Concept of Sovereigntyin the Context of Drones
 IV. Looking Forward:A New Paradigm of Armed Conflict?
  A. Can the NSAs Initiate an Armed Conflict?
  B. The Traditional Classifications of Armed Conflict
  C. Geneva Convention in the US-Pakistan Context
  D. Internationalized Non-International Armed Conflict?
 V. Commencement Threshold
  A. Transnational Armed Conflict
  B. Transnational Armed Conflict applied in Counter Terrorism
 VI. Impact Threshold: Evaluation of Impact andthe Regulatory Humanitarian Law Framework
  A. Transnational Armed Conflict
  B. Transnational Armed Conflict Applied in Counter-Terrorism
 VII. Transnational Armed Conflict in Practice
 VIII. Conclusion

• Arindrajit Basu(West Bengal National University of Juridical Sciences, Kolkata, India)
• Arthad Kurlekar(West Bengal National University of Juridical Sciences, Kolkata, India)