Tensions between Afghanistan and Pakistan have spiralled into open armed conflict, with both sides trading claims of significant military gains as fighting escalated sharply overnight.
Afghanistan's Taliban-led defence ministry claimed Thursday night that its forces had captured 19 Pakistani military posts and two bases along the disputed Durand Line, while also asserting that an F-16 fighter jet had been shot down after it entered Afghan airspace. The Taliban further alleged that 55 Pakistani soldiers were killed in the clashes. Pakistan, for its part, declared that it is now in an "open war" with the Taliban-ruled nation — a stark escalation in rhetoric that marks a dangerous new chapter in the long-troubled relationship between the two neighbours.
Taliban spokesperson Zabihullah Mujahid confirmed that Afghan forces had launched operations in Kandahar and Helmand provinces, targeting what he described as security posts belonging to Pakistan's military along the contested Durand Line — the 2,640-kilometre border drawn during British colonial rule that Afghanistan has historically refused to recognise as a legitimate international boundary.
Security sources cited by TOLOnews reported that Afghan forces had shot down a Pakistani aircraft, identified as an F-16 fighter jet, that had violated Afghan airspace. Pakistani authorities had not issued any immediate confirmation or denial of the claim at the time of reporting.
Mujahid also stated that following Afghan retaliatory strikes on Pakistani targets in the eastern and southeastern regions, Pakistan responded by launching airstrikes on locations in Kabul, Kandahar and Paktia. In a notable claim, he insisted that despite the bombardment, no casualties were reported on the Afghan side — a statement that could not be independently verified.
Islamabad has pushed back strongly with its own account of the fighting. Mosharraf Zaidi, spokesperson for Pakistan's prime minister, stated that Pakistani strikes had destroyed 27 Afghan Taliban military posts and captured nine others. He further claimed that more than 80 tanks, artillery pieces and armoured personnel carriers had been destroyed in the operations.
In a post on X, Zaidi wrote that Pakistan's "immediate and effective response to aggression" was continuing, framing Islamabad's military actions as a defensive and proportionate response to Taliban provocations.
The latest eruption of violence is rooted in decades of mutual suspicion, border disputes and accusations of cross-border militant activity. Pakistan has long accused the Afghan Taliban of harbouring the Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), the group responsible for thousands of Pakistani civilian and military deaths. The Taliban government, in turn, has rejected Pakistani demands to act against the TTP and has remained firm in its position on the Durand Line.
The declaration of "open war" by Islamabad, if sustained, represents one of the most serious deteriorations in Afghanistan-Pakistan relations in recent memory — and carries grave implications for regional stability, humanitarian conditions inside Afghanistan, and international efforts to engage with both governments.
With conflicting claims flying from both sides and no independent verification of casualty figures or military losses, the full picture of what transpired overnight remains unclear. What is certain is that the situation remains volatile, and further escalation cannot be ruled out.
Leave Your Comment