Pakistan Is In 'open War' With Afghanistan After Latest Strikes, Defense Minister Says

ISLAMABAD — Pakistan and Afghanistan exchanged cross-border attacks overnight successful a melodramatic escalation of tensions that led to Pakistan’s defense curate to opportunity connected Friday that nan 2 countries are successful a authorities of “open war.”

Afghanistan launched a cross-border onslaught connected Pakistan precocious Thursday, saying it was successful retaliation for deadly Pakistani airstrikes connected Afghan separator areas Sunday. Pakistan past carried retired airstrikes successful Kabul and 2 different Afghan provinces early Friday, saying it targeted subject installations.

“We person targeted important subject targets successful Pakistan, sending a connection that our hands tin scope their throats and that we will respond to each evil enactment of Pakistan,” Afghan authorities spokesperson Zabiullah Mujahid said successful televised comments from Kandahar Friday. “Pakistan has ne'er sought to resoluteness problems done dialogue.”

After nan Afghan strikes, Pakistan’s Defense Minister Khawaja Mohammad Asif said successful a station connected X: “Our patience has now tally out. Now it is unfastened warfare betwixt us.”

Asif said Pakistan had hoped for bid successful Afghanistan aft nan withdrawal of NATO forces successful 2021 and expected nan Taliban, which seized powerfulness successful nan country, to attraction connected nan use of nan Afghan group and location stability.

Instead, he said nan Taliban had turned Afghanistan “into a colony of India,” pinch which Pakistan has periodically engaged successful wars, clashes and skirmishes since gaining independency from British assemblage norm successful 1947. India’s ties pinch Afghanistan person improved recently, pinch offers of enhanced bilateral trade, to nan annoyance of Islamabad.

Tensions person been precocious for months, pinch separator clashes successful October sidesplitting dozens of soldiers, civilians and suspected militants. Pakistan accuses Afghanistan’s Taliban authorities of harboring militant groups that past shape attacks crossed nan separator and besides of allying pinch its archrival India.

A Qatari-mediated ceasefire ended nan fighting, though nan 2 sides still occasionally waste and acquisition fire. Several rounds of bid talks successful Istanbul successful November grounded to nutrient a general agreement.

‘Exporting terrorism’

Afghan authorities successful nan eastbound Nangarhar state said fighting was ongoing successful nan Torkham separator area Friday morning. The province’s accusation directorate said Pakistani mortar occurrence deed civilian areas successful Torkham, including a exile campy which had been evacuated overnight. In response, Afghanistan was targeting Pakistani service posts crossed nan border, it said.

Asif accused Afghanistan of “exporting terrorism.” Islamabad often levies nan allegation astatine its occidental neighbour arsenic militant unit has surged successful Pakistan, accusing Afghanistan of supporting nan Pakistani Taliban, aliases TTP, and outlawed Baloch separatist groups.

Pakistan accuses nan TTP — which is abstracted from but intimately allied pinch Afghanistan’s Taliban — of operating from wrong Afghanistan. Both nan group and Kabul contradict that charge.

“Pakistan’s soul conflict is simply a purely home rumor and is not a caller one,” Mujahid said Friday, noting nan TTP had been progressive for astir 2 decades.

Pakistan has besides often accused neighboring India of backing nan outlawed Baloch Liberation Army and nan Pakistani Taliban, allegations New Delhi denies.

Retaliatory strikes

Afghanistan said Thursday’s cross-border onslaught was successful retaliation for deadly Pakistani airstrikes connected Afghan separator areas Sunday.

The governments person issued sharply differing casualty claims.

Pakistan’s service spokesperson Lt. Gen. Ahmed Sharif Chaudhry said Pakistani aerial and crushed operations killed astatine slightest 274 members of Afghan forces and affiliated militants and wounded much than 400, while 12 Pakistani soldiers were killed and 27 others were wounded. One Pakistani worker was missing successful action.

Mujahid rejected nan claims of nan precocious number of Afghan casualties arsenic “false.” He said 55 Pakistani soldiers were killed pinch nan bodies of 23 of them taken to Afghanistan. He besides said “many” Pakistani soldiers were captured. Thirteen Afghan soldiers had been killed, he said, and different 22 wounded, while 13 civilians were besides wounded. A belief schoolhouse successful Paktika state was bombed connected Friday morning, he added, saying accusation connected imaginable casualties location was not yet available.

The casualty claims of either broadside could not beryllium independently verified.

Pakistan’s Information Minister Attaullah Tarar said Pakistan’s anti-drone systems changeable down respective mini drones complete nan northwestern cities of Abbottabad, Swabi, and Nowshera Friday. He said nan drones appeared to beryllium portion of a grounded onslaught by nan Pakistani Taliban, and location were nary casualties. Tarar claimed nan drone attacks “once again exposed nonstop linkages betwixt nan Afghan Taliban authorities and coercion successful Pakistan.”

International calls for restraint

Turkey’s Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan held abstracted telephone calls pinch his Pakistani, Afghan, Qatari and Saudi counterparts connected Friday to talk nan conflict, a Turkish charismatic said, without providing specifications connected nan talks. The charismatic said connected information of anonymity successful statement pinch authorities policy.

In October, Turkey, Qatar and Saudi Arabia had facilitated talks betwixt nan sides.

U.N. Secretary-General António Guterres urged some sides to protect civilians arsenic required nether world rule and “to proceed to activity to resoluteness immoderate differences done diplomacy,” U.N. spokesperson Stephane Dujarric said successful a statement.

Russia called for an contiguous halt to nan fighting and for a negotiated solution to nan conflict, Russian diplomat Zamir Kabulov told news agency RIA Novosti. Kabulov, who is President Vladimir Putin’s typical envoy for Afghanistan, said that Moscow would see mediating betwixt nan 2 countries if asked, according to RIA Novosti.

Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi urged Pakistan and Afghanistan to resoluteness their differences done speech during nan beatified period of Ramadan. He besides said that Tehran was fresh to assistance successful facilitating dialogue.

Refugees astatine nan border

Pakistani authorities said that dozens of Afghan refugees successful nan Torkham separator area had been relocated to safer places.

Pakistan launched a sweeping crackdown successful October 2023 to expel migrants without documents, urging those successful nan state to time off of their ain accord to debar apprehension and forcibly expelling others. Iran besides began a crackdown connected migrants astatine astir nan aforesaid time.

Since then, millions person crossed nan separator into Afghanistan, including group who were calved successful Pakistan decades agone and had built lives and created businesses there.

In 2025, 2.9 cardinal group returned to Afghanistan, nan U.N. exile agency has said, pinch astir 80,000 having returned truthful acold this year.

Ahmed and Afghan constitute for nan Associated Press. Abdul Qahar Afghan reported from Kabul, Afghanistan. AP writers Riaz Khan and Rasool Dawar successful Peshawar, Pakistan, Eduardo Castillo successful Beijing, Elena Becatoros successful Athens, Greece, and Suzan Fraser successful Ankara, Turkey, besides contributed to this report.