Pakistan airstrikes target Kabul and other Afghan areas as border clashes escalate
Pakistan's Defence Minister Khawaja Asif stated that Islamabad's "patience has run out" with the Taliban authorities, announcing that the country was now waging "open war" following Afghan attacks on Pakistani military positions along their shared border.
Pakistani officials, including Prime Minister's spokesperson Mosharraf Zaidi and Foreign Ministry spokesman Tahir Andrabi, claimed strikes targeted Taliban positions in Kabul, Kandahar, Paktia, Nangarhar, and Paktika provinces, killing over 133 fighters, wounding more than 200, destroying 27 positions, and capturing nine others in some reports, or over 80 militants in others. Andrabi described the operations as based on precise intelligence to prevent imminent terrorist attacks and ensure Pakistani citizens' security, emphasizing efforts to avoid civilian harm.
Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid said Pakistani warplanes bombed areas in Kabul, Kandahar, and Paktia but reported no casualties. An Afghan military source told Al Jazeera that Afghan forces killed 10 Pakistani soldiers and captured 13 outposts in response to prior Pakistani strikes. Mujahid separately claimed Taliban forces killed 40 Pakistani soldiers and seized multiple posts along the Durand Line.
Pajhwok reported that earlier Pakistani strikes hit a school in Paktika and a house in Behsud district of Nangarhar, killing 17 civilians including women and children. Afghanistan's Ministry of Defense stated its forces killed 55 Pakistani soldiers, captured two bases and 19 posts, with eight Afghan fighters killed, 11 wounded, and 13 civilians injured in a rocket attack on a Nangarhar refugee camp.
Former Afghan President Hamid Karzai condemned the strikes as sovereignty violations and urged Pakistan to pursue good neighborliness. Iran's Foreign Minister Seyed Abbas Araqchi called for dialogue to resolve disputes, offering Tehran as a facilitator. Al Jazeera could not independently verify casualty claims, which vary widely across sources.
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