Pakistan declares ‘open war’ with Afghan Taliban after strikes on Kabul, Kandahar

Pakistan bombed major cities in Afghanistan including the capital Kabul on Friday, with Islamabad’s defence minister declaring the neighbours at “open war” following months of tit-for-tat clashes. Journalists in Kabul and Kandahar heard blasts and jets overhead until dawn, as Pakistan launched air strikes on the Afghan capital and the southern power base of the Taliban authorities. Pakistan’s latest operation came after Afghan forces attacked Pakistani border troops on Thursday night over earlier air strikes by Islamabad. Relations between the neighbours have plunged in recent months, with land border crossings largely shut since deadly fighting in October that killed more than 70 people on both sides. Islamabad accuses Afghanistan of failing to act against militant groups that carry out attacks in Pakistan, which the Taliban government denies. Most of the attacks have been claimed by the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), a militant group that has stepped up assaults in Pakistan since the Afghan Taliban returned to power in Kabul in 2021. “Afghan Taliban defence targets were targeted in Kabul, Paktia [province] and Kandahar,” Pakistani Information Minister Attaullah Tarar posted on social media while defence minister Khawaja Asif declared an “all-out confrontation” with the Taliban government. “Our patience has reached its limit. Now it is open war between us and you,” he posted on social media. The overnight strikes mark a “significant and dangerous escalation from earlier clashes”, South Asia expert Michael Kugelman said on social media. “Pakistan appears to have expanded its targeting beyond TTP to the Taliban regime itself.” Deteriorating relations Several rounds of negotiations between Islamabad and Kabul followed an initial ceasefire brokered by Qatar and Turkey, but the efforts have failed to produce a lasting agreement. After repeated breaches of the initial truce, Saudi Arabia intervened this month, mediating the release of three Pakistani soldiers captured by Afghanistan in October. Saudi’s Foreign Minister, Prince Faisal bin Farhan, spoke on Friday with his Pakistani counterpart Ishaq Dar, according to a statement published by Riyadh. And Iran, which shares an eastern border with Afghanistan and Pakistan, on Friday offered to help “facilitate dialogue” to resolve the conflict. Both Afghan and Pakistani militaries said they killed dozens of soldiers in the latest round of border violence, which followed multiple strikes by Islamabad on Afghanistan and clashes along the frontier in recent months. Pakistan’s Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif said his country’s armed forces can “have the full capability to crush any aggressive ambitions”. In the Afghan capital, journalists heard jets and multiple loud blasts, followed by gunfire, over a period of several hours. reporter in Afghanistan’s southern city of Kandahar, where Supreme Leader Hibatullah Akhundzada is based, said he heard jets overhead. Streets in Kabul were quiet after daybreak, in keeping with a Friday during Ramadan in the Muslim-majority nation. The Taliban authorities had not notably increased the presence of security forces nor checkpoints, journalists across the city said. The Taliban government confirmed the Pakistani air strikes, with spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid saying there were no casualties. Hours earlier, Mujahid announced “large-scale offensive operations” at the border “in response to repeated violations by the Pakistani military”. The Afghan defence ministry reported eight of its soldiers had been killed in the land offensive. An Afghan official reported multiple civilians wounded near the Torkham border crossing, at a camp for people returning from Pakistan. “A mortar shell has hit the camp and unfortunately seven of our refugees have been wounded, and the condition of one woman is serious,” said Qureshi Badlun, the information chief in Nangarhar province. While the border has largely been closed since October, Afghan returnees have been allowed to cross. Mujahid, said that several Pakistani soldiers had been “caught alive”, a claim denied by the prime minister’s office in Islamabad. The military operation follows Pakistani strikes on Nangarhar and Paktika provinces overnight into Sunday, which the UN mission in Afghanistan said killed at least 13 civilians. Both sides also reported cross-border fire on Tuesday, but without casualties. Besides military operations, there has been a series of deadly suicide blasts in Pakistan and Afghanistan in recent months. They included an attack on a Shiite mosque in Islamabad that killed at least 40 people and was claimed by the Islamic State group. The militant group’s regional chapter, Islamic State-Khorasan, also claimed a deadly suicide bombing at a restaurant in Kabul last month.

Pakistan declares ‘open war’ with Afghan Taliban after strikes on Kabul, Kandahar

.css-1c6uqr6{color:inherit;font-weight:inherit;font-size:inherit;font-family:inherit;line-height:inherit;overflow-wrap:break-word;}The air strikes came hours after Afghan forces attacked Pakistani border troops in what the Taliban government said was retaliation

The air strikes came hours after Afghan forces attacked Pakistani border troops in what the Taliban government said was retaliation