Closing summary
Pakistan’s defence minister declared an “open war” with the Taliban government in Afghanistan, in a major escalation between the neighbouring countries.
Pakistan launched airstrikes last night on major Afghan cities including the capital Kabul in response to what it called “unprovoked firing” from across the border.\
Pakistani forces targeted strikes at 22 locations across Afghanistan, including in Kabul, Kandahar, Paktia, Nangarhar, Khost and Paktika.
Afghan officials said it attacked Pakistani border troops in retaliation for earlier airstrikes by Islamabad.
Both sides claimed to have inflicted heavy casualties on each other, but the true numbers remain unclear. Afghanistan is also claiming to have captured several Pakistan soldiers which Islamabad denies.
Lt Gen Ahmed Sharif Chaudhry, the spokesperson for Pakistan’s armed forces, claimed at least 274 Taliban fighters were killed and more than 400 injured since the Pakistani armed forces launched Operation Ghazab lil-Haq.
Afghanistan’s Taliban government says 55 Pakistani soldiers were killed, while eight of its own had died and 11 injured. It added 13 civilians were also injured after a reported Pakistani attack on a refugee camp in Nangarhar province east of Kabul.
It marks a major escalation since a ceasefire brokered by Qatar and Turkey halted deadly clashes in October. Negotiations since then have failed to produce a lasting agreement.
Zabihullah Mujahid, the spokesperson for the Taliban government in Afghanistan, said the country wants “dialogue” with Pakistan to resolve the ongoing fighting.
Since the Taliban’s return to power in Afghanistan in 2021, relations between Afghanistan and Pakistan – which shares a 1,600-mile long disputed Durand Line – has wavered between cautious diplomacy to open hostility.
Islamabad accuses Afghanistan of harbouring Pakistan Taliban (TTP) militants who launch attacks against Pakistan from the border. Analysts say the latest violence is the first time Pakistan has directly targeted sites of the Taliban government rather than only alleged TTP positions.
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What to know about the border between Pakistan and Afghanistan
The two countries share a 1,600-mile long frontier known as the Durand Line, named after the British diplomat Mortimer Durand and established in 1893. It cuts through the heartland of the tribal areas of the Pashtun, the largest ethnic group in Afghanistan and where most of the Taliban hails from.
It is this line that is the root cause of the tensions between the neighbouring countries. Although it is internationally recognised as Pakistan’s western border, Afghanistan does not accept it as a legitimate boundary.
Both Pakistan and Afghanistan accuse each other for failing to tackle the militant activity along the border.
