Pakistan carried out overnight airstrikes on Taliban government targets in major Afghan cities, sharply escalating tensions between the two neighbours, with Islamabad’s defence minister describing the confrontation as “open war.”
Pakistani security sources said air-to-ground missiles struck Taliban military offices and posts in Kabul, Kandahar and Paktia, alongside intense ground clashes across multiple sectors of the 2,600-kilometre border. Taliban officials confirmed the strikes and said they had launched retaliatory attacks on Pakistani military installations.
“Our cup of patience has overflowed. Now it is open war between us and you,” Pakistan’s Defence Minister Khawaja Muhammad Asif said on Friday.
Taliban spokesperson Zabihullah Mujahid said Pakistani forces conducted air raids in parts of Kabul, Kandahar and Paktia but did not provide casualty details. Kandahar is the movement’s spiritual heartland and the base of its supreme leader, Haibatullah Akhundzada.
Both sides reported heavy losses, issuing conflicting figures that could not be independently verified. Pakistani government spokesperson Mosharraf Zaidi said 133 Taliban fighters were killed, more than 200 wounded, 27 posts destroyed and nine captured. Mujahid countered that 55 Pakistani soldiers were killed and 19 posts seized, while eight Taliban fighters were killed and 11 wounded. He also said 13 civilians were injured in Nangarhar province.
Video shared by Pakistani officials showed artillery exchanges along the border. Footage verified from Kabul showed plumes of black smoke rising from strike sites, with witnesses reporting loud explosions and the sound of jets overhead.
The latest escalation follows earlier Pakistani airstrikes this week that Islamabad said targeted camps of Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) and Islamic State militants in eastern Afghanistan. Kabul and the United Nations said those strikes killed 13 civilians, and the Taliban denied harbouring militants, insisting Pakistan’s security challenges are internal.
Clashes between the two sides in October left dozens dead before mediation efforts by Turkey, Qatar and Saudi Arabia helped broker a halt in hostilities. On Friday, Saudi Arabia confirmed its foreign minister had spoken with his Pakistani counterpart to discuss easing tensions, while Russia — the only country to formally recognise the Taliban government — said it would consider mediating if requested by both parties.
Pakistan has heightened security nationwide, particularly in Punjab province, amid fears of retaliatory militant attacks. Afghan state media in Nangarhar published an image it said showed a battalion of suicide bombers prepared for deployment, further raising concerns that the conflict could expand into a prolonged and destabilising confrontation.
