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.
Afghan forces attacked Pakistani border troops on Thursday night in what the Taliban government said was retaliation for earlier deadly air strikes, while AFP journalists in Kabul and Kandahar heard blasts and jets overhead.
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.
Several rounds of negotiations followed an initial ceasefire brokered by Qatar and Turkey, but the efforts have failed to produce a lasting agreement.
Both militaries said they killed dozens of soldiers in the latest round of border violence, which followed multiple Pakistani strikes on Afghanistan and clashes along the frontier in recent months.
“Afghan Taliban defence targets were targeted in Kabul, Paktia (province) and Kandahar,” Pakistani Information Minister Attaullah Tarar posted on X, 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 the social media platform.
Jets overhead
In the Afghan capital AFP journalists heard jets and multiple loud blasts, followed by gunfire, over a period of more than two hours.
An AFP reporter in Afghanistan’s southern city of Kandahar, where Supreme Leader Hibatullah Akhundzada is based, said he heard jets overhead.
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.
Months of border violence
Mujahid, the Taliban government spokesman, told AFP 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.
The Taliban government said at least 18 people were killed and denied Pakistan’s announcement that the military operation left more than 80 militants dead.
Both sides also reported cross-border fire on Tuesday, but without casualties.
After repeated breaches of the initial ceasefire, Saudi Arabia intervened this month, mediating the release of three Pakistani soldiers captured by Afghanistan in October.
Source: AFP
--Agencies
