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| Pakistan and Afghanistan Declares 'Open War,' Over 130 Taliban Fighters Reported Killed |
Taliban government spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid confirmed that Pakistani forces struck parts of Kabul, Kandahar, and Paktia province. At least three explosions were heard in the Afghan capital, though initial reports gave no precise details on the location of the strikes or the casualties in the city. Pakistan's Information Minister Attaullah Tarar said Afghan Taliban defence targets were struck in all three locations.
The Pakistani strikes were launched under what Islamabad named Operation Ghazab lil Haq, which commenced late Thursday night in response to what Pakistan described as an unprovoked attack by Afghan forces on its border troops. According to Tarar, the operation killed at least 133 Afghan Taliban fighters and left more than 200 wounded. Pakistan's Defence Minister Asif confirmed the operation was underway, saying the armed forces were delivering a strong response to Taliban aggression.
Mujahid, however, offered a sharply different account. The Taliban spokesman said Afghan forces killed 55 Pakistani soldiers, seized 19 posts, and conducted wide-ranging retaliatory operations in the directions of Kandahar and Helmand after the strikes on Kabul and Kandahar. He reported eight Taliban fighters killed, 11 wounded, and 13 civilians injured in Nangarhar province. A Taliban deputy spokesman separately claimed the capture of a major Pakistani headquarters in Khost Province, with dozens of soldiers reported killed or wounded and a large quantity of weapons seized.
Pakistan's government rejected the Taliban's claims outright. A spokesman for Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif said no Pakistani posts had been captured or damaged and that its forces had inflicted heavy losses across the border. Pakistan's Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi described the strikes as a "befitting response" to what he called open Afghan Taliban aggression.
Prime Minister Sharif addressed the nation on Friday, saying his country's armed forces possessed the full capability to "crush any aggressive ambitions" and that the entire nation stood behind its military.
Afghanistan's attack on Thursday night was itself described by the Taliban government as retaliation for deadly Pakistani airstrikes carried out on February 22, which Islamabad had said targeted militant hideouts in Afghan border areas. Pakistan's Foreign Ministry noted on Friday that terrorist attacks inside Pakistan had increased significantly since the Taliban's return to power in Afghanistan in 2021, particularly over the last twelve to eighteen months.
The gap in military strength between the two sides is considerable. Pakistan fields 660,000 active personnel, more than 6,000 armoured fighting vehicles, over 4,600 artillery pieces, 465 combat aircraft, and a nuclear arsenal of approximately 170 warheads. Afghanistan's Taliban forces, by contrast, number around 172,000 active personnel with plans to expand to 200,000. The group possesses Soviet-era tanks, armoured vehicles, and a limited number of aircraft and helicopters, though the operational condition of much of this equipment is uncertain. Afghanistan has no nuclear weapons and no meaningful air force.
United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said he was following the reports of cross-border clashes with concern and urged both parties to resolve their differences through diplomacy. His spokesman Stephane Dujarric conveyed the appeal in a statement, signalling growing international unease over the deteriorating situation.
Relations between Pakistan and Afghanistan have been under severe strain for months. Land border crossings have been largely shut since deadly fighting in October 2025, which left more than 70 people dead on both sides. The latest exchange of strikes has put a Qatar-mediated ceasefire effort under serious pressure, with the prospect of further escalation appearing increasingly likely as both sides continue to exchange fire and trade sharply conflicting accounts of events on the ground.
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