Cross-border violence between Pakistan and Afghanistan intensified on Friday after Islamabad said it carried out airstrikes in areas of Kabul, Kandahar and Paktia, and Pakistan’s defence minister announced what he called ‘open war’ against Kabul.
In a message on X, Defence Minister Khawaja Asif accused the Taliban-led government of sheltering militants and failing to restore security following NATO’s withdrawal. He said Afghanistan had become a refuge for international terrorists, was exporting violence into the region, and had restricted basic rights at home, including curbs on women’s freedoms. Asif warned that Pakistan’s patience had ended and invoked the Sufi chant ‘Dama Dam Mast Qalandar’, declaring: ‘Our cup of patience has overflowed. Now it is open war between us and you. Pakistan’s army did not come from across the seas. We are your neighbours; we know your ins and outs. Allahu Akbar.’
Afghan officials condemned the reported strikes. Taliban spokesperson Zabihullah Mujahid described the attacks as ‘cowardly’ and said there were no confirmed casualties from the strikes in Kabul, Kandahar and Paktia.
Tensions along the Durand Line, the disputed frontier between the two countries, have been rising for months amid Pakistani allegations that militants operate from Afghan territory and Afghan complaints about cross-border incursions. Observers say the latest exchanges are among the sharpest confrontations since the Taliban returned to power.
Adding to the conflicting accounts, Afghanistan’s Ministry of National Defence said that 55 Pakistani soldiers were killed in retaliatory operations along the Durand Line on Thursday, underscoring the dangerous and increasingly fraught state of relations between the neighbours.
