Pakistan carried out airstrikes on Afghanistan’s capital, Kabul, and in the provinces of Paktia and Kandahar on Friday, hours after cross-border fighting, marking a fresh escalation in violence between the two countries despite a ceasefire mediated by Qatar in 2025.
After months of reciprocal clashes, Afghan forces attacked Pakistani border troops late on Thursday in what the Taliban-led government described as retaliation for earlier Pakistani airstrikes that had caused casualties. A few hours later, multiple explosions were reported in Kabul, while both sides issued conflicting accounts about the scale of damage and casualties.
Pakistan’s information minister Attaullah Tarar said the strikes targeted Taliban-linked officials and resulted in large numbers of casualties, including dozens killed and many wounded, with further losses possible. Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif said Pakistan’s armed forces were capable of forcefully responding to aggression, while the defence minister described the situation as an open conflict, the Guardian reported.
In a statement on social media, Defence Minister Khawaja Mohammad Asif said Pakistan had hoped that stability would follow the withdrawal of NATO forces and expected Afghanistan’s rulers to prioritise regional security and public welfare. He alleged that militant groups had instead been allowed to operate and pose threats beyond Afghanistan’s borders.
Afghanistan’s defence ministry reported that dozens of Pakistani soldiers were killed during the border clashes, with some allegedly taken into Afghan territory, and said several Pakistani military posts and bases were destroyed. The ministry also acknowledged Afghan casualties in the fighting. Pakistan’s prime minister’s spokesperson, Mosharraf Ali Zaidi, rejected claims that any Pakistani soldiers had been captured.
Ties between the two neighbours have deteriorated sharply in recent months, with most border crossings closed since deadly clashes in October that left scores dead on both sides. Islamabad has accused Kabul of failing to act against militant groups responsible for attacks inside Pakistan, an allegation the Taliban administration has denied.
Pakistan’s interior minister Mohsin Naqvi said the strikes were intended as a firm response to what Islamabad described as provocation. Afghan officials said their forces had launched operations across the border late on Thursday in response to earlier Pakistani strikes on Afghan border areas.
Attempts to secure a durable settlement between the two sides have stalled, with talks and an initial ceasefire facilitated by Qatar and Turkey in October appearing increasingly fragile. Pakistan and Afghanistan share the 2,611-kilometre Durand Line, a border that Kabul has never formally recognised.
Tensions have remained elevated for months, with previous confrontations in October resulting in the deaths of soldiers, civilians, and suspected militants. The violence followed explosions in Kabul that Afghan authorities attributed to Pakistan, after which Islamabad said it carried out strikes inside Afghanistan against suspected militant hideouts.