Pakistan’s defence minister declared an “open war” with the Taliban government in Afghanistan, in a major escalation between the neighbouring countries.
Pakistan launched airstrikes last night on major Afghan cities including the capital Kabul in response to what it called “unprovoked firing” from across the border.
Afghan officials said it attacked Pakistani border troops in retaliation for earlier airstrikes by Islamabad.
Both sides claimed to have inflicted heavy casualties on each other, but the true numbers remain unclear. Afghanistan is also claiming to have captured several Pakistan soldiers which Islamabad denies.
It marks a major escalation since a ceasefire brokered by Qatar and Turkey halted deadly clashes in October. Negotiations since then have failed to produce a lasting agreement.
Since the Taliban’s return to power in Afghanistan in 2021, relations between Afghanistan and Pakistan – which shares a 1,600-mile long disputed Durand Line – has wavered between cautious diplomacy to open hostility.
Islamabad accuses Afghanistan of harbouring Pakistan Taliban (TTP) militants who launch attacks against Pakistan from the border. Analysts say the latest violence is the first time Pakistan has directly targeted sites of the Taliban government rather than only alleged TTP positions.
The foreign secretary, Yvette Cooper, has issued a statement on the Pakistan-Afghanistan fighting.
She said:
The UK is deeply concerned by the significant escalation in tensions between Afghanistan and Pakistan. We urge both sides to take immediate steps toward de‑escalation, avoid further harm to civilians, and re‑engage in mediated dialogue.
Pakistan’s defence minister declared an “open war” with the Taliban government in Afghanistan, in a major escalation between the neighbouring countries.
Pakistan launched airstrikes last night on major Afghan cities including the capital Kabul in response to what it called “unprovoked firing” from across the border.
Afghan officials said it attacked Pakistani border troops in retaliation for earlier airstrikes by Islamabad.
Both sides claimed to have inflicted heavy casualties on each other, but the true numbers remain unclear. Afghanistan is also claiming to have captured several Pakistan soldiers which Islamabad denies.
It marks a major escalation since a ceasefire brokered by Qatar and Turkey halted deadly clashes in October. Negotiations since then have failed to produce a lasting agreement.
Since the Taliban’s return to power in Afghanistan in 2021, relations between Afghanistan and Pakistan – which shares a 1,600-mile long disputed Durand Line – has wavered between cautious diplomacy to open hostility.
Islamabad accuses Afghanistan of harbouring Pakistan Taliban (TTP) militants who launch attacks against Pakistan from the border. Analysts say the latest violence is the first time Pakistan has directly targeted sites of the Taliban government rather than only alleged TTP positions.
The original Taliban ruled Afghanistan from 1994 until the US invaded after the September 11 attacks in 2001. After its rule collapsed, Taliban fighters fled to the border region with Pakistan, where, in 2007, an alliance of formerly disparate militant groups came together and called itself Tehreek-e-Taliban (TTP), or the Pakistan Taliban.
The TTP wants to overthrow the government of Pakistan in order to establish Islamic rule over the country. To that end, the TTP has worked to destabilise Pakistan by directly attacking its army and assassinating politicians.
The TTP is separate from but closely allied with Afghanistan’s Taliban, which returned to power in 2021.
Pakistan has long accused Afghanistan of harbouring militants that carry out attacks across the border, which the Afghan Taliban denies.
Both countries have shared conflicting statements about the reported drones strikes launched by the Taliban against Pakistan.
The Taliban in Afghanistan “successfully conducted” airstrikes using drones to hit military targets in Pakistan, its defence ministry and a government spokesperson said.
Pakistani information minister Attaullah Tarar said Pakistani Taliban militants had tried to use drones against targets in Pakistan but they were brought down by anti-drone systems and there was “no damage to life”.
The reports could not be independently verified.
Pakistan state broadcaster PTV reported this morning that Islamabad jets were patrolling the skies above Afghanistan’s Kandahar after launching airstrikes against Taliban targets.
“The Pakistan armed forces are fully prepared for any aggression and possess the capability to deliver a befitting response,” the broadcaster quoted security sources as saying.
Pakistani security sources said they destroyed an Taliban ammunition depot in Kandahar, according to local reports.
UN human rights chief Volker Turk has also urged for “urgent political dialogue” to end the fighting, as he expressed concern over the “sharp increase in civilian casualties”.
“This situation calls for urgent political dialogue, rather than escalating the use of force,” Turk said.
Saudi Arabia and Pakistan’s foreign ministers spoke today to discuss reducing tensions, according to Riyadh’s foreign office. Both countries have longstanding defence, diplomatic and economic ties, but it is unclear if Saudi Arabia is involved in brokering a ceasefire.
Russia, the only country to formally recognise the Taliban government, called on both sides to return to the negotiating table “to resolve all differences through political and diplomatic means”.
“We call on our friends Afghanistan and Pakistan to refrain from dangerous confrontation,” said Russian foreign ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova.
China’s foreign ministry said it had been mediating in the conflict through its own channels and was “deeply concerned” about the escalation. Pakistan is one of China’s closest partners in the region, but it considers itself a “friendly neighbour” of Afghanistan.
China “calls on both sides to remain calm and exercise restraint … achieve a ceasefire as soon as possible, and avoid further bloodshed”, said foreign ministry spokesperson Mao Ning.
There has been no reaction from Afghanistan to Asif’s comments on “open war”. The Taliban government said Afghan forces attacked Pakistani border troops last night in retaliation for earlier airstrikes by Islamabad.
“In response to the repeated rebellions and insurrections of the Pakistani military, large-scale offensive operations were launched against Pakistani military bases and military installations along the Durand Line,” Afghanistan government spokesperson Zabihullah Mujahid said on X, referring to the 1,600-mile long border between the two countries.
Afghan authorities in the eastern Nangarhar province said that fighting was ongoing in the Torkham border area this morning, according to the AP news agency.
There are conflicting reports on the number of casualties sustained on both sides. Afghanistan claimed 55 Pakistani soldiers were killed and “several others were captured alive”, while eight of its own fighters died. Pakistan reported that 133 Afghan fighters and two of its own soldiers were killed, but denied that any were captured.
The escalation comes after Qatar and Turkey mediated a ceasefire between the two countries in October, whendeadly border clashes killed dozens of soldiers, civilians and suspected militants. Several rounds of negotiations have since taken place but to no avail.
Morning, Taz Ali here to bring you the latest developments in the Pakistan-Afghanistan border clashes.
Pakistan has declared an “open war” against neighbouring Afghanistan after both sides traded deadly tit-for-tat cross-border fire last night with explosions reported in Kabul and other major Afghan cities.
Pakistan launched Operation Ghazab lil-Haq (roughly translated as “Righteous Fury”) against the Afghan Taliban in response to what it called “unprovoked firing” in multiple locations across the border. According to local reports, Pakistani forces launched airstrikes against military targets in the Afghan capital, Kabul, as well as in Kandahar and Paktia provinces close to the border.
“Our patience has now run out. Now it is open war between us,” Khawaja Mohammad Asif, the Pakistani defence minister, wrote on X.
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