Pakistan launched airstrikes on Taliban government positions in key Afghan cities overnight, marking a significant escalation in tensions, according to officials from both nations on Friday. Pakistan’s defense minister described the situation as an “open war.”

Pakistani security sources detailed that the operations included air-to-ground missile attacks targeting Taliban military facilities in Kabul, Kandahar, and Paktia, alongside skirmishes in various border regions shared by the two countries.

The Taliban reported that they executed counterattacks aimed at Pakistani military sites.

Each side claimed substantial casualties, but provided conflicting figures that could not be independently confirmed by Reuters.

“Our patience has exhausted. It is now an open war between us and Afghanistan,” stated Pakistan’s Defense Minister Khawaja Muhammad Asif on Friday.

Relations have been tense between Kabul and Islamabad due to ongoing accusations from Pakistan that Afghanistan shelters militants responsible for cross-border assaults. The Taliban have refuted these claims, asserting that Pakistan’s security issues are of its own making.

The strikes on Taliban government installations are a major escalation, and threaten a protracted conflict along the 1,615-mile frontier.

Taliban spokesperson Zabihullah Mujahid confirmed Pakistani forces carried out air strikes in parts of Kabul, Kandahar and Paktia but did not give details.

Kandahar is the headquarters of the Taliban and the city where supreme spiritual leader Haibatullah Akhundzada is based.

Video shared by Pakistani security officials showed flashes of light in the night from firing along the border and the sound of heavy artillery.

A video of strikes on Kabul, for which Reuters was able to verify the location, showed thick plumes of black smoke rising from two sites and a massive blaze in part of the capital.

Another video showed a building on fire, which the officials said was a Taliban headquarters in Paktia province.

“Pakistani counter-strikes against targets in Afghanistan continue,” a Pakistani government spokesperson, Mosharraf Zaidi, said in a post on X, describing the action as a response to “unprovoked Afghan attacks.”

Reuters witnesses in Kabul said many ambulance sirens could be heard following loud blasts and the sound of jets.

Zaidi said 133 Afghan Taliban fighters were killed and more than 200 wounded, with 27 posts destroyed and nine captured.

Mujahid, the Taliban spokesperson, said 55 Pakistani soldiers were killed and 19 posts seized, while eight Taliban fighters were killed, 11 wounded and 13 civilians injured in Nangarhar province.

HIGH SECURITY

Pakistan’s military capabilities are vastly superior to Afghanistan. However, the Taliban are adept at guerrilla warfare, hardened by decades of fighting with US-led forces, before returning to power in 2021.

Clashes between Pakistan and Afghanistan in October killed dozens of soldiers until negotiations facilitated by Turkey, Qatar and Saudi Arabia brought an end to the hostilities.

Pakistan and Saudi Arabia’s foreign ministers spoke on Friday to discuss reducing tensions, Riyadh’s foreign office said without providing details on whether Riyadh was involved in brokering a ceasefire.

Russia, the only country to formally recognize the Taliban government, called for an end to hostilities and said it would consider mediating talks if asked by both parties, state media reported citing Moscow’s foreign ministry.

Pakistan has been on high security alert since it launched air strikes earlier this week that Islamabad said targeted camps of Tehreek-e-Taliban (TTP), or Pakistani Taliban, and Islamic State militants in eastern Afghanistan.

Kabul and the United Nations said the strikes killed 13 civilians and reiterated it does not allow militants to operate from its territory. The Taliban also warned there would be a strong response.

The government of Pakistan’s Punjab province said it was on high alert for militant attacks on Friday and had conducted a series of security operations, taking 90 Afghan nationals to holding centres for deportation.

A state-run media outlet from Afghanistan’s Nangarhar, Bakhtar News Agency, shared an image of what it said was a battalion of suicide attackers, and quoted an Afghan security source as saying the bombers were equipped with explosive vests and car bombs and were prepared to strike major targets.

Pakistani officials have said in recent days they feared an escalation of militant strikes in urban centres.