After the violence escalated, both militaries said they killed dozens of soldiers in the other side, which followed multiple Pakistani strikes on Afghanistan and clashes along the frontier in recent months.
Islamabad/Kabul:
Islamabad has declared “open war” on the Afghan Taliban government following renewed clashes along the shared border between Afghanistan and Pakistan. The escalation came after Pakistan bombed Afghanistan’s Kabul and Kandahar on Friday, hours after Afghan forces attacked Pakistani border troops in what the Taliban government said was retaliation for deadly airstrikes earlier this week.
“Our patience has reached its limit. Now it is open war between us and you,” Pakistan’s Defence Minister Khawaja Asif posted on X as the Pakistani military launched operation ‘Ghazab Lil Haq’ against Afghanistan.
As the violence escalated, both militaries said they killed dozens of soldiers on the other side, making a Qatar-mediated ceasefire appear increasingly shaky.
Afghanistan’s Claim
At least three explosions were heard in Kabul, but there was no immediate information on the exact location of the strikes in the Afghan capital or on any potential casualties. Taliban government spokesperson Zabihullah Mujahid said Pakistan also carried out airstrikes in Kandahar to the south and in the southeastern province of Paktia.
Hours before, Afghanistan said its military launched its attack across the border into Pakistan late on Thursday in retaliation for deadly Pakistani airstrikes on Afghan border areas last Sunday, and claimed to have captured more than a dozen Pakistani army posts.
The Afghan defence ministry reported eight of its soldiers had also been killed in the land offensive.
An Afghan official told news agency AFP that multiple civilians were 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.
The border has largely been closed since fighting in October, although Afghan returnees have been allowed to cross.
Pakistan’s Claim
The Associated Press reported that Pakistan’s military carried out airstrikes targeting what they described as Afghan military facilities in Kabul, Kandahar and Paktia provinces, allegedly destroying two brigade bases, but they didn’t mention any potential casualties.
Pakistan’s government, which had described last Sunday’s airstrikes as an attack on militants harboured in the area, described Thursday’s Afghan attack as unprovoked and dismissed claims that army posts had been captured.
“Afghan Taliban defence targets were targeted in Kabul, Paktia (province) and Kandahar,” Pakistani Information Minister Attaullah Tarar posted on X, as Islamabad launched Operation Ghazab lil-Haq against the Afghan Taliban over “unprovoked firing” from across the border.
Pakistan’s state broadcaster PTV News reported that the Pakistani forces have targeted the Afghan Taliban’s important military installations in Kabul, Kandahar and Paktia. The report claimed at least two brigade headquarters have been destroyed in Kabul in the strikes, while one corps headquarters and one brigade headquarters have been destroyed in Kandahar. It also claimed that an ammunition depot and logistics base had been destroyed in Kandahar, and a corps headquarters had been destroyed in Paktia.
Pakistan’s Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi has condemned the Afghan Taliban for targeting civilians. A statement posted by Naqvi, who is also the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) chief, on X said that Pakistan’s armed forces had responded befittingly to the open aggression by the Afghan Taliban.
“The cowardly enemy struck in the darkness of night. The Afghan Taliban made a despicable attempt to target innocent civilians,” he said.
“The nation stands shoulder to shoulder with the armed forces. The Afghan Taliban made a terrible mistake by attacking. They will have to face serious consequences. We will not allow our security to be compromised,” he said.
Mismatch In Casualty Figures
The two sides reported widely differing casualty figures.
Afghanistan’s Defense Ministry said 55 Pakistani soldiers had been killed, including some whose bodies had been taken into Afghanistan, while “several others were captured alive.” It put its own casualties at eight killed and another 11 wounded. The ministry said it had destroyed 19 Pakistani army posts and two bases, and that the fighting had ended at midnight, about four hours after the start of the attack.
Pakistan’s Information Minister Attaullah Tarar, however, said the number of Pakistani soldiers killed stood at two, with three others wounded. He said 36 Afghan fighters had been reported killed. In a post on X, he said Pakistan was giving a “strong and effective response” to what he called unprovoked firing from Afghanistan.
Mosharraf Ali Zaidi, spokesperson for Pakistan’s Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, denied that any Pakistani soldiers had been captured. Later, in a post on X, he added that at least 133 Afghan fighters were killed and more than 200 wounded, saying that 27 Afghani posts were also destroyed and nine fighters were captured. He didn’t specify where the victims died, and just added that there would be “many more casualties estimated in strikes in Kabul, Paktia and Kandahar military targets.”
Both sides also reported exchanges of fire in the Torkham border area.
Afghan authorities were evacuating a refugee camp near the Torkham border crossing after several refugees were wounded, said Qureshi Badlon, head of Torkham’s Information and Public Awareness Board. The defence ministry said 13 civilians were wounded in a missile strike on the camp, including women and children.
On the Pakistani side of the border, police said residents were also evacuating to safer areas, while some Afghan refugees who had been waiting to cross back into Afghanistan were also moved to secure locations. Pakistan launched a sweeping crackdown on migrants in October 2023 and has expelled hundreds of thousands of people.
Pakistani police said mortars fired from Afghanistan had landed in nearby villages, but there were no reports of civilian casualties. “Pakistan will take all necessary measures to ensure its territorial integrity and the safety and security of its citizens,” Pakistan’s Information Ministry said in a post on X.
Afghanistan’s military released video footage of military vehicles moving at night and the sound of heavy gunfire. They also claimed they captured several posts of the Pakistani military regime. The video could not be independently verified.
Afghanistan also claimed its forces shot down Pakistan’s F-16 fighter jet. They posted a video of a plane carcass on fire.
Af-Pak Tensions
Tension has been high between the two neighbors for months, with deadly border clashes in October killing dozens of soldiers, civilians and suspected militants. UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has urged both sides to protect civilians as required under international law and “to continue to seek to resolve any differences through diplomacy,” UN spokesperson Stephane Dujarric said.
The violence followed explosions in Kabul that Afghan officials blamed on Pakistan. Islamabad, at the time, conducted strikes deep inside Afghanistan to target militant hideouts. A Qatari-mediated ceasefire between the two countries has largely held, but the two sides have still occasionally traded fire across the border. Several rounds of peace talks in November failed to produce a formal agreement.
On Sunday, Pakistan’s military carried out strikes along the border with Afghanistan, saying it had killed at least 70 militants.
Afghanistan rejected the claim, saying dozens of civilians had been killed, including women and children. Kabul’s defence ministry said the strikes were a violation of Afghanistan’s airspace and sovereignty.
Militant violence has surged in Pakistan in recent years, much of which Pakistan blames on the Pakistani Taliban, or TTP, and outlawed Baloch separatist groups. The TTP is separate from but closely allied with Afghanistan’s Taliban. Islamabad accuses the TTP of operating from inside Afghanistan, a charge both the group and Kabul deny.
