Pakistan Declares It Is in ‘Open War’ with Afghanistan

Pakistan and Afghanistan traded intense air and ground attacks on Friday, each side presenting widely differing casualty figures in what Pakistani leaders described as an “open war” along their tense border.

Pakistan’s military said its aircraft struck 22 Afghan military sites, killing 274 Taliban officials and fighters. Military spokesperson Ahmed Sharif Chaudhry briefed reporters on the operation.

Defence Minister Khawaja Muhammad Asif declared, “Our cup of patience has overflowed. Now it is open war between us and you (Afghanistan).”

The escalation heightens fears of a prolonged conflict along the roughly 2,600-kilometre frontier, amid Islamabad’s long-standing allegation that Kabul shelters militants responsible for attacks inside Pakistan. The Taliban reject the accusation, insisting Pakistan’s security challenges are domestic in nature.

Taliban spokesperson Zabihullah Mujahid said 55 Pakistani soldiers were killed and 19 military posts captured in retaliatory operations. He confirmed Pakistani air raids on parts of Kabul, Kandahar and Paktia on Thursday night, followed by strikes on Paktia, Paktika, Khost and Laghman on Friday.

Footage circulated by Pakistani security officials showed flashes and heavy artillery fire along the border. Videos from Kabul captured thick black smoke rising from two locations and a large blaze in part of the capital. Another clip showed a building engulfed in flames that officials identified as a Taliban headquarters in Paktia province.

Government spokesperson Mosharraf Zaidi said in a post on X that “Pakistani counter-strikes against targets in Afghanistan continue,” calling them a response to “unprovoked Afghan attacks.”

Reuters witnesses in Kabul reported repeated ambulance sirens after powerful explosions and the roar of jets overhead. Chaudhry said at least 12 Pakistani soldiers and 274 Taliban officials and fighters had been killed since Thursday night.

High security alert

Pakistan has remained on high alert since launching earlier air strikes that it said targeted camps of Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), also known as the Pakistani Taliban, and Islamic State militants in eastern Afghanistan.

Kabul said those raids killed 13 civilians and reiterated that it does not permit militant groups to operate from Afghan soil, warning of a strong response.

Afghanistan’s state-run Bakhtar News Agency in Nangarhar published an image it described as a battalion of suicide attackers, citing a security source who said they were equipped with explosive vests and car bombs and ready to strike major targets.

Pakistani officials have in recent days expressed concern over possible militant attacks in urban centres.

Clashes intensified along the frontier on Thursday night after the Taliban launched what they called retaliatory assaults on Pakistani military installations. Both sides claimed to have destroyed border posts.

Strained relations

A statement from the office of Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif said the nation stood firmly behind its armed forces.

“The people of Pakistan and its Armed Forces are fully prepared to safeguard the nation’s security, sovereignty and territorial integrity,” the statement said, warning that any aggression would receive a “fitting response.” Sharif added there should be “zero tolerance” for the “malicious actions of the Fitna al-Khawarij and Afghan Taliban regime.”

Relations between the two neighbours, who share a roughly 2,611-kilometre border, have deteriorated sharply since October, when earlier fighting left more than 70 people dead on both sides.

Islamabad maintains that Kabul has allowed armed groups such as the Pakistan Taliban to use Afghan territory as a base for cross-border attacks. While ideologically aligned with Afghanistan’s Taliban, the Pakistan Taliban operates as a separate organisation.

Asif said Islamabad had sought to defuse tensions through diplomacy, including engagement via friendly countries, but accused the Taliban of acting as a proxy for India — a charge Kabul has rejected.

Former Afghan president Hamid Karzai wrote on X that Afghans would “defend their beloved homeland with complete unity” and confront aggression with courage.

‘Grave escalation’

Reporting from Islamabad, Al Jazeera correspondent Kamal Hyder said heavy casualties appeared to have been inflicted.

“This is a grave escalation, probably the worst since the Taliban took over.”

Elizabeth Threlkeld, director of the South Asia Program at the Stimson Center in Washington, DC, said the clashes were not unexpected after months of strained ties.

“It is significant to the extent that it represents perhaps a shift in strategy,” she said, pointing to what she described as more aggressive, kinetic operations by Pakistan.

“We’ve seen a couple of major terrorist attacks within Pakistan,” she added. “I’m not surprised that after those cumulative incidents, tensions have frayed and events have once again moved in this direction, unfortunately.”