Islamabad has declared “open war” on the Afghan Taliban government following renewed clashes along the shared border between Afghanistan and Pakistan.
The escalation came after Pakistan bombed Afghanistan’s Kabul and Kandahar on Friday, hours after Afghan forces attacked Pakistani border troops in what the Taliban government said was retaliation for deadly airstrikes earlier this week.

“Our patience has reached its limit. Now it is open war between us and you,” Pakistan’s Defence Minister Khawaja Asif posted on X.

As the violence escalated, both militaries said they killed dozens of soldiers on the other side, making a Qatar-mediated ceasefire appear increasingly shaky.

Afghanistan’s Claim

At least three explosions were heard in Kabul, but there was no immediate information on the exact location of the strikes in the Afghan capital or on any potential casualties. Taliban government spokesperson Zabihullah Mujahid said Pakistan also carried out airstrikes in Kandahar to the south and in the southeastern province of Paktia.

Hours before, Afghanistan said its military launched its attack across the border into Pakistan late on Thursday in retaliation for deadly Pakistani airstrikes on Afghan border areas last Sunday, and claimed to have captured more than a dozen Pakistani army posts.

The Afghan defence ministry reported eight of its soldiers had also been killed in the land offensive.

An Afghan official told news agency AFP that multiple civilians were wounded near the Torkham border crossing, at a camp for people returning from Pakistan. “A mortar shell has hit the camp and unfortunately seven of our refugees have been wounded, and the condition of one woman is serious,” said Qureshi Badlun, the information chief in Nangarhar province.

The border has largely been closed since fighting in October, although Afghan returnees have been allowed to cross.

Pakistan’s Claim

The Associated Press reported that Pakistan’s military carried out airstrikes targeting what they described as Afghan military facilities in Kabul, Kandahar and Paktia provinces, allegedly destroying two brigade bases, but they didn’t mention any potential casualties.

Pakistan’s government, which had described last Sunday’s airstrikes as an attack on militants harboured in the area, described Thursday’s Afghan attack as unprovoked and dismissed claims that army posts had been captured.

“Afghan Taliban defence targets were targeted in Kabul, Paktia (province) and Kandahar,” Pakistani Information Minister Attaullah Tarar posted on X, as Islamabad launched Operation Ghazab lil-Haq against the Afghan Taliban over “unprovoked firing” from across the border.

Pakistan’s state broadcaster PTV News reported that the Pakistani forces have targeted the Afghan Taliban’s important military installations in Kabul, Kandahar and Paktia. The report claimed at least two brigade headquarters have been destroyed in Kabul in the strikes, while one corps headquarters and one brigade headquarters have been destroyed in Kandahar. It also claimed that an ammunition depot and logistics base have been destroyed in Kandahar, and a corps headquarters has been destroyed in Paktia.