Screengrab from footage showing a Pakistani air strike in Kabul, Afghanistan. Courtesy of state broadcaster Pakistan TV
Pakistani Information Minister Attaullah Tarar said “Afghan Taliban defence targets were targeted in Kabul, Paktia (province) and Kandahar,” 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.
In Kabul, AFP journalists heard jets and multiple loud blasts followed by gunfire over more than two hours. An AFP reporter in Kandahar, where Supreme Leader Hibatullah Akhundzada is based, also reported hearing jets overhead.
The Taliban government confirmed the Pakistani air strikes, with spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid saying there were no casualties.
Hours earlier, Mujahid had announced “large-scale offensive operations were launched against Pakistani military bases and military installations,” accusing Pakistan of “repeated violations.”
Tensions along the Pakistan-Afghanistan border escalated over the past two days after Afghan forces reportedly opened fire on multiple locations in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, Islamabad said on Thursday.
“Afghanistan opened unprovoked fire on multiple locations” along the border, the Pakistani Information Ministry said on X, adding that the attacks were “being met with immediate, and effective response.”
The escalation follows militant attacks across northwest Pakistan earlier this week, which killed nearly 20 police personnel and civilians over two days, most claimed by Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP). Pakistani forces reported killing 26 militants in four counter-operations on Thursday.
Islamabad accuses the Afghan Taliban of allowing Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) fighters to operate from Afghan territory and failing to curb cross-border attacks, a charge Kabul denies.
Violence in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Balochistan has surged in recent months, with bombings, ambushes and raids targeting security forces.
Pakistan’s military has repeatedly struck militant hideouts across the border in response to suicide attacks, and land crossings have largely remained closed since October, when fighting along the frontier killed more than 70 people.
Islamabad has reiterated that it will take “all necessary measures” to defend its citizens and territory against cross-border terrorism.
*This story was edited by Ahram Online.
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