Pak declares ‘open war’ against Afghan after cross-border attack
International Desk :
Pakistan’s Defence Minister Khawaja Asif says it is now “open war” between Pakistan and Afghanistan’s Taliban government as explosions are reported in Kabul and fighting continues along the border.
Hours earlier, Taliban government spokesperson Zabihullah ?Mujahid said Afghanistan was carrying out “large-scale offensive operations” against the Pakistani military “along the Durand Line” that separates the two countries.
Pakistan says it killed 278 Taliban fighters and two of its security personnel died. According to Afghanistan, 55 Pakistani soldiers were killed while eight of its fighters died in the attacks.
The figures could not be independently verified. 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 – have 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.
Pakistan bombed Taliban government targets in Afghanistan’s major cities overnight, officials from both countries said on Friday, with Pakistan’s defence minister calling the conflict “open war”.
Security sources in Pakistan said the strikes involved air-to-ground missile attacks on Taliban military offices and posts in Kabul, Kandahar and Paktia as well as ground clashes in multiple sectors along the border between the Islamic nations.
The Taliban said it launched what it described as retaliatory attacks on Pakistani military installations.
Both sides reported heavy losses, issuing sharply differing figures that Reuters could not independently verify.
“Our cup of patience has overflowed. Now it is open war between us and you (Afghanistan),” Pakistani Defence Minister Khawaja Muhammad Asif said on Friday.
Relations between Kabul and Islamabad have been strained by a long-running dispute over Pakistan’s accusation that Afghanistan harbours militants carrying out attacks across the border. The Taliban have denied the charge and said Pakistan’s security is an internal problem.
The strikes on Taliban government installations are a major escalation, and threaten a protracted conflict along the 2,600-km (1,615-mile) frontier.
Taliban spokesperson Zabihullah Mujahid confirmed Pakistani forces carried out air strikes in parts of Kabul, Kandahar and Paktia but did not give details.
Kandahar is the headquarters of the Taliban and the city where supreme spiritual leader Haibatullah Akhundzada is based.
“Pakistani counter-strikes against targets in Afghanistan continue,” a Pakistani government spokesperson, Mosharraf Zaidi, said in a post on X, describing the action as a response to “unprovoked Afghan attacks.”
Reuters witnesses in Kabul said many ambulance sirens could be heard following loud blasts and the sound of jets.
Zaidi said 133 Afghan Taliban fighters were killed and more than 200 wounded, with 27 posts destroyed and nine captured.
Mujahid, the Taliban spokesperson, said 55 Pakistani soldiers were killed and 19 posts seized, while eight Taliban fighters were killed, 11 wounded and 13 civilians injured in Nangarhar province.
