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What we know so far
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Pakistan’s defence minister declared an “open war” with the Taliban government in Afghanistan, in a major escalation between the neighbouring countries.
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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.
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Afghan officials said it attacked Pakistani border troops in retaliation for earlier airstrikes by Islamabad.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
Key events
Closing summary
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Pakistan’s defence minister declared an “open war” with the Taliban government in Afghanistan, in a major escalation between the neighbouring countries.
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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.\
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Pakistani forces targeted strikes at 22 locations across Afghanistan, including in Kabul, Kandahar, Paktia, Nangarhar, Khost and Paktika.
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Afghan officials said it attacked Pakistani border troops in retaliation for earlier airstrikes by Islamabad.
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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.
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Lt Gen Ahmed Sharif Chaudhry, the spokesperson for Pakistan’s armed forces, claimed at least 274 Taliban fighters were killed and more than 400 injured since the Pakistani armed forces launched Operation Ghazab lil-Haq.
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Afghanistan’s Taliban government says 55 Pakistani soldiers were killed, while eight of its own had died and 11 injured. It added 13 civilians were also injured after a reported Pakistani attack on a refugee camp in Nangarhar province east of Kabul.
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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.
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Zabihullah Mujahid, the spokesperson for the Taliban government in Afghanistan, said the country wants “dialogue” with Pakistan to resolve the ongoing fighting.
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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.
What to know about the border between Pakistan and Afghanistan
The two countries share a 1,600-mile long frontier known as the Durand Line, named after the British diplomat Mortimer Durand and established in 1893. It cuts through the heartland of the tribal areas of the Pashtun, the largest ethnic group in Afghanistan and where most of the Taliban hails from.
It is this line that is the root cause of the tensions between the neighbouring countries. Although it is internationally recognised as Pakistan’s western border, Afghanistan does not accept it as a legitimate boundary.
Both Pakistan and Afghanistan accuse each other for failing to tackle the militant activity along the border.
The Taliban government spokesperson, Zabihullah Mujahid, argued that Pakistan’s security problems were an internal matter, a statement Afghanistan has repeatedly made but rejected by Islamabad.
In a statement during a press conference today, Mujahid said:
Pakistan’s internal conflict is entirely a matter for that country and is not a new issue. A war has been ongoing for about twenty years between Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) and the Pakistani army. In 2007, the TTP declared itself in Pakistan’s tribal areas, after which Pakistan conducted successive military operations there, the largest of which was “Operation Zarb-e-Azb”, which began in 2014.
The Islamic Emirate has been in control of Afghanistan for about four years; therefore, it is not at all reasonable for Pakistan to now burden Afghanistan with its old, internal problem.
In case you don’t know what the TTP is, I explain it in an earlier post here.
Operation continuing on the directions of PM, says Pakistan army
Pakistan’s military operation against the Taliban government in Afghanistan is continuing on the directions of the prime minister Shehbaz Sharif, a Pakistani army spokesperson was quoted as saying by Reuters news agency.
Pakistani army claims 274 Taliban fighters killed
Chaudhry claimed at least 274 Taliban fighters were killed and more than 400 injured since the Pakistani armed forces launched Operation Ghazab lil-Haq.
He described the Afghan Taliban regime as an “internationally recognised terrorist organisation” responsible for last night’s clashes.
“This aggression was done by this master proxy in coordination, in collusion and in support of a terrorist organisation,” he was quoted as saying by local media.
“That’s what happened last night.”
Dozen soldiers killed in Pakistan, army spokesperson says
Lt Gen Ahmed Sharif Chaudhry, the spokesperson for Pakistan’s armed forces, is holding a press conference providing updates of the cross-border fighting with Afghanistan.
He said 12 Pakistani soldiers were killed and 27 wounded, according to local media reports of the press briefing.
Other updates he shared include:
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Pakistani forces targeted strikes at 22 locations across Afghanistan, including in Kabul, Kandahar, Paktia, Nangarhar, Khost and Paktika.
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The targets included “core headquarters of Afghan Taliban forces… ammunition depots, logistic bases, and refuges that provide shelter to terrorists and facilitators”.
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Pakistan armed forces had destroyed 73 posts and had captured 17.
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An estimated 115 tanks, armoured personnel carriers and artillery pieces were destroyed.
Afghanstan wants fighting to be ‘resolved through dialogue’, says Taliban spokesman
Zabihullah Mujahid, the spokesperson for the Taliban government in Afghanistan, said the country wants “dialogue” with Pakistan to resolve the ongoing fighting.
“We have repeatedly emphasised a peaceful solution, and still want the problem to be resolved through dialogue,” he was quoted as saying by Al Jazeera.
Moments earlier, however, he vowed that Afghanistan would respond to “every evil act of Pakistan”.
Before that, he struck an even more chilling tone, saying Taliban fighters targeted important military sites in Pakistan, which “sends a message that our hand can reach their necks”.
Videos shared by Pakistani security officials showed flashes of light in the night from the shelling along the border and the sound of heavy artillery. A video of the apparent strikes on Kabul appeared to show clouds of black smoke rising from two sites and a major fire in part of the capital.
Kabul taxi driver Tamim told Reuters news agency that he was asleep when he heard the sound of an aircraft, which was followed by strikes on what appeared to be a weapons depot.
“We woke up, and the plane came and dropped two bombs, then flew away again. After that, we heard explosions,” he said.
“Everyone, in panic, ran down from the second floor of the house. The ammunition inside the depot kept exploding on its own.”
Here are some images from the newswires from Afghanistan and Pakistan following the cross-border strikes last night.
Casualty numbers remain unclear
Both sides are reporting they have inflicted heavy casualties on each other, but it is difficult to know the true numbers when they are presenting sharply divergent figures.
Pakistan’s information minister Attaullah Tarar claims 133 Afghan Taliban fighters were killed, with more than 200 injured. Of its own soldiers, Tarar says that two were killed in the cross-border fighting, while three were injured.
Afghanistan’s Taliban government says 55 Pakistani soldiers were killed, while eight of its own had died and 11 injured. It added 13 civilians were also injured after a reported Pakistani attack on a refugee camp in Nangarhar province east of Kabul.
Yvette Cooper urges both sides to de-escalate
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.
What we know so far
-
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.
What is the Pakistan Taliban?
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.
Afghanistan claims its drones hit Pakistan targets
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.
Countries call for calm and restraint
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, when deadly border clashes killed dozens of soldiers, civilians and suspected militants. Several rounds of negotiations have since taken place but to no avail.
Opening summary
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.
Read our full report on this story here:
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