Pakistan Bombs Kabul and Kandahar as Defence Minister Declares 'Open War' on Afghan Taliban

Pakistani warplanes struck the Afghan capital and the Taliban's southern power base overnight, marking the most serious military escalation between the neighbours since the Taliban's return to power in 2021. Pakistan, a nuclear-armed state, has declared "open war" on a government it once helped bring to power.

ISLAMABAD/KABUL — Pakistan launched airstrikes on Kabul and Kandahar in the early hours of Friday, with Defence Minister Khawaja Asif declaring that his country's "patience has reached its limit" and that Pakistan was now waging "open war" against the Taliban government in neighbouring Afghanistan.

The strikes, part of an operation Islamabad has named "Ghazab Lil Haq" (Wrath for the Truth), represent a dramatic escalation in months of deteriorating relations between the two countries, which share a 2,611-kilometre mountainous border along the disputed Durand Line.

A night of explosions

AFP journalists in Kabul reported hearing jets overhead and multiple loud blasts followed by gunfire over a period of several hours beginning at approximately 1:50am local time. Al Jazeera's correspondent in the Afghan capital, Nasser Shadid, reported that Afghan anti-aircraft guns opened fire after the first bombing raid and continued after a second.

Pakistani Information Minister Attaullah Tarar claimed that strikes targeted Taliban defence positions in Kabul, Kandahar, and Paktia province. He said 133 Afghan Taliban fighters had been killed, more than 200 wounded, nine Taliban positions captured, and 27 destroyed. Pakistan also claimed to have destroyed over 80 tanks, artillery pieces, and armoured personnel carriers — a figure that analysts may find difficult to reconcile with the Taliban's known limited conventional arsenal, much of it ageing equipment inherited from the collapsed Afghan republic.

The Taliban government confirmed the air raids but disputed the casualty figures. Spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid said there were no casualties from the strikes, and announced that Afghanistan had launched its own retaliatory attacks against Pakistani military bases.

Neither the Pakistani casualty counts nor the Afghan claims of captured border posts could be independently verified. With border crossings closed and journalists unable to access the fighting, both sides' claims should be treated with caution.

Escalation timeline

The current spiral began on Sunday 22 February, when Pakistan launched airstrikes on Nangarhar and Paktika provinces. The United Nations mission in Afghanistan said the strikes killed at least 13 civilians; Kabul said women, children, and a religious school were among the targets. Pakistan said it had targeted militant camps.

Both sides reported cross-border fire on Tuesday 24 February, though without significant casualties.

On Thursday evening 26 February, the Taliban launched what spokesman Mujahid called "large-scale offensive operations" against Pakistani military installations along the Durand Line, framing them as retaliation. The Afghan Defence Ministry reported capturing multiple Pakistani border posts and claimed to have killed "numerous" Pakistani soldiers and taken prisoners — claims denied by Islamabad, which acknowledged two soldiers killed and three wounded.

Hours later, Pakistan responded with the airstrikes on Kabul and Kandahar that marked the formal declaration of "open war."

Roots of the conflict

The current crisis traces back to the Taliban's seizure of power in August 2021, which paradoxically deepened rather than resolved tensions with Pakistan — a country that had long been accused of supporting the Taliban during the US-led war.

The core grievance is Pakistan's accusation that the Taliban government has allowed the Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), commonly known as the Pakistani Taliban, to use Afghan territory as a base for attacks inside Pakistan. Pakistan has suffered a sharp increase in suicide bombings and militant attacks in recent months, with the TTP claiming responsibility for several high-profile operations. The TTP shares deep ideological ties with the Afghan Taliban but operates as a distinct movement. The Taliban government has denied harbouring the TTP.

Relations hit a critical low in October 2025, when cross-border clashes killed more than 70 people on both sides. Land border crossings have been largely shut since, despite a fragile ceasefire brokered by Qatar and Turkey. Saudi Arabia managed to negotiate the release of three captured Pakistani soldiers in February, but broader peace efforts have failed.

Regional and international implications

The declaration of "open war" by a nuclear-armed state against a neighbouring government raises grave concerns about regional stability, particularly given the involvement of regional powers. India's growing diplomatic ties with the Taliban government have added another dimension to Pakistan's strategic calculations, with Islamabad wary of encirclement.

Pakistan's Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif stated that his country's armed forces "have the full capability to crush any aggressive ambitions," while the Taliban government has shown no signs of backing down. Neither side appears to have international allies positioned to broker an immediate ceasefire.

The UN Human Rights Chief Volker Türk has appealed for dialogue, but with border crossings closed and diplomatic channels strained, the mechanisms for de-escalation are limited. China, which maintains significant economic interests in both countries — including the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor and mining concessions in Afghanistan — has not yet issued a public statement on the escalation, despite being potentially the only major power with leverage over both sides.

Civilian populations on both sides of the border face the most immediate danger. An Afghan official in Nangarhar province reported that a mortar shell struck a camp for returning refugees near the Torkham crossing, wounding seven people including a woman in serious condition. Pakistan has suspended the repatriation of deported Afghan nationals due to the fighting.

Counter-view: Pakistan's strategic constraints

Despite the fiery rhetoric, several factors suggest this conflict may remain bounded. Pakistan faces severe economic constraints, with an ongoing IMF programme that limits its ability to sustain a prolonged military campaign. Its military is also stretched thin by domestic counterinsurgency operations. The declaration of "open war" may serve primarily as domestic political signalling — pressuring the Taliban while demonstrating resolve to a Pakistani public frustrated by TTP attacks — rather than a commitment to full-scale invasion.

Afghanistan, for its part, lacks an air force and the heavy conventional military capacity to threaten Pakistan's heartland, which limits the conflict's potential to escalate beyond border regions.

However, the history of the Afghan-Pakistani borderlands suggests that even "limited" conflicts in this terrain can prove intractable and devastating for civilian populations caught between the two sides.

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Sources

• Al Jazeera — "'Open war': Pakistan says 'patience has run out' as it bombs Afghanistan," 27 Feb 2026
• BBC News — "Pakistan strikes Afghan cities as cross-border attacks escalate," 27 Feb 2026
• The Hindu — "Pakistan bombs Kabul in 'open war' on Afghanistan's Taliban government," 27 Feb 2026
• Deutsche Welle — "Afghan Taliban attacks met with Pakistani strikes on Kabul," 27 Feb 2026
• South China Morning Post — "Pakistan declares 'open war' with Afghan Taliban after morning strikes on Kabul, Kandahar," 27 Feb 2026
• TASS — "Pakistan government says 133 Afghan servicemen killed, 200 wounded in clashes," 27 Feb 2026
• France 24 — "Pakistan vows 'immediate response' after Afghanistan launches retaliatory attacks," 26 Feb 2026
• Times of India — "'Open war' declared: Pakistan strikes Kabul, Kandahar — 10 things to know," 27 Feb 2026
• UN News — "UN's Türk urges dialogue after deadly clashes on Afghan-Pakistan border," 26 Feb 2026

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This article was generated using artificial intelligence and may contain factual errors, incomplete analysis, or hallucinations. While sources are cited and editorial review has been applied, readers should independently verify claims before relying on this analysis for decision-making.

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Draft prepared for Tongzhi AI editorial review — news.numnet.eu