Pakistan’s defence minister has declared ‘open war’ on Afghanistan, as his country’s military launched a volley of airstrikes in response to a Taliban attack on the border.
Kabul, Afghanistan‘s capital, was rocked by multiple explosions in the early hours of Friday, with dramatic footage broadcast by Pakistani news apparently showing major, targeted blasts.
Unconfirmed footage posted to social media claimed to show enormous fireballs erupting into the sky over Afghanistan, with official confirmation that at least three provinces had been hit.
Two senior Pakistani security officials said the airstrikes targeted ‘Afghan military facilities’ in Kabul, Kandahar and Paktia provinces, allegedly destroying two brigade bases.
Relations between the neighbours have spiraled since deadly fighting in October killed more than 70 people, and Pakistan’s Defence, Minister Khawaja Asif, claimed to have now been left with no choice.
‘Our patience has run out. Now there is an open war,’ he said early on Friday, while suggesting the Taliban had become ‘a proxy for India‘.
In a series of firebrand posts on X, Pakistan’s Prime Minister, Muhammad Shehbaz Sharif, said: ‘The people of Pakistan and the armed forces are always ready to protect the country’s security, sovereignty, and territorial integrity. The armed forces of Pakistan are performing their duties with national zeal.
‘No compromise will be made on the defense of our dear homeland, and a crushing response will be given to every aggression.’
Unconfirmed footage appears to show large explosions on the Afghanistan skyline
Afghan Taliban fighters patrol near the Afghanistan-Pakistan border on Thursday, which saw large scale cross-border fighting
Pakistani news channels broadcasted footage of major explosions in Afghanistan
As the dust settled from the strikes, Taliban spokesman Zabiullah Mujahid said: ‘The cowardly Pakistani military has carried out airstrikes in certain areas of Kabul, Kandahar, and Paktia.’ He said there had been no reported casualties.
UN Secretary-General António Guterres urged both sides to protect civilians and ‘to continue to seek to resolve any differences through diplomacy,’ a UN spokesperson said.
Friday morning’s bombardment came in response to a Taliban armed raid along the border on Thursday, in which Pakistan said two of its soldiers were killed while responding to ‘unprovoked fire’.
Afghanistan said the skirmish was, in turn, retaliation for deadly Pakistani airstrikes in border areas on Sunday.
Both sides claimed to have inflicted significant losses, with Afghanistan’s Defence Ministry reporting to have taken 19 Pakistani army posts and two bases, killed as many as 55 soldiers, and also captured a number of troops. It put its own casualties at eight killed and another 11 wounded.
Pakistan refuted that any border posts had been seized or soldiers captured, reporting three casualties on top of the two deaths, per Information Minister Attaullah Tarar.
Mosharraf Ali Zaidi, the prime minister’s spokesman, claimed that at least 133 Afghan fighters were killed and more than 200 wounded, with 27 Afghani posts destroyed and nine fighters captured. No detail about the location of these casualties was given.
The Taliban, which controls the whole of Afghanistan since Western troops pulled out in 2020, said it had launched the ‘large-scale’ operation in response to strikes last weekend.
‘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,’ Afghan government spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid said in a post on X on Thursday night.
Officials from Pakistan said the earlier strikes had targeted alleged militant camps and hideouts.
Fighting also broke out in a separate part of the border on Thursday, with both sides reporting exchanges of fire in the Torkham region.
Afghan authorities have been evacuating a refugee camp near the Torkham border crossing after several refugees were wounded, local officials said.
On the Pakistani side, police said residents were also evacuating to safer areas, while some Afghan refugees who had been waiting to cross back into Afghanistan were also moved to secure locations.
Tensions and violence have been growing over the shared 1,622-mile border, known as the Durand Line, which Afghanistan has not formally recognized.
A Qatari-mediated ceasefire between the two countries has largely held to this point, though the two sides have occasionally traded blows across the border.
Several rounds of peace talks in November failed to reach a formal agreement.
