On Friday, Pakistan launched a series of airstrikes on key Afghan cities, including the capital, Kabul, a dramatic escalation that led Pakistan’s defense minister to announce that the two nations are now in an “open war.” This declaration comes after a prolonged period of sporadic and retaliatory skirmishes between the neighboring countries.

The sound of explosions and fighter jets filled the skies over Kabul and Kandahar as Pakistan targeted the Afghan capital and the Taliban’s stronghold in the south. This aggressive action followed an attack by Afghan forces on Pakistani border troops, which was itself a response to Pakistan’s previous airstrikes.

Recently, the relationship between these neighboring countries has deteriorated significantly. Since October, deadly clashes have resulted in the closure of most land border crossings, claiming the lives of more than 70 individuals on both sides.

Pakistan has leveled accusations against Afghanistan, alleging that it has failed to curb militant groups responsible for orchestrating attacks within Pakistan’s borders. The Taliban government has denied these allegations.

Many of these attacks have been attributed to the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), a militant faction that has intensified its operations in Pakistan following the Taliban’s rise to power in Kabul in 2021.

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.

Several rounds of negotiations followed an initial ceasefire brokered by Qatar and Türkiye but the efforts have failed to produce a lasting agreement.

The overnight strikes mark a “significant and dangerous escalation from earlier clashes”, South Asia expert Michael Kugelman said in a post on X.

“Pakistan appears to have expanded its targeting beyond TTP to the Taliban regime itself,” he said.

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 said 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.

Pakistan’s Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif said his country’s armed forces can “have the full capability to crush any aggressive ambitions”.

The Taliban government confirmed the Pakistani airstrikes, 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, the Taliban government spokesman, told Agence France-Presse 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.

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. The self-proclaimed Islamic State group took responsibility.

The militant group’s regional chapter, Islamic State-Khorasan, also claimed a deadly suicide bombing at a restaurant in Kabul last month.

After repeated breaches of the initial ceasefire, Saudi Arabia intervened this month, mediating the release of three Pakistani soldiers captured by Afghanistan in October.

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