Full Analysis Summary
Pakistan strikes in Afghanistan
Pakistan on Friday bombed targets in Kabul, Kandahar, Paktia and other points in Afghanistan, marking the first time its strikes were aimed at military targets of the Afghan Taliban rather than only at the Tehreek e Taliban (TTP or Pakistani Taliban).
Pakistan’s government said its Armed Forces carried out dawn attacks along the 2,640-kilometer border.
Mosharraf Zaidi, the prime minister of Pakistan’s spokesman for foreign media, said the strikes hit "military targets" in response to "unprovoked Afghan attacks."
Pakistan’s defense minister Khawaja Asif declared that Islamabad was in an "open war" with the Taliban regime.
The Taliban government said it is open to dialogue and willing to seek a negotiated way out of the conflict.
Pakistan’s prime minister Muhammad Shehbaz Sharif warned the Armed Forces have the "full capacity to reduce to dust any aggressive ambition."
The article notes Pakistan has been a nuclear power since 1998.
Pakistan-Afghanistan clash claims
Both sides have presented conflicting casualty and damage claims that have not been independently verified.
Pakistan maintains it has killed at least 274 Afghan fighters.
The Taliban authorities claim to have caused the deaths of 55 Pakistani soldiers and to have seized 19 border posts.
Pakistani authorities have acknowledged 12 soldiers killed, while the Taliban have reported 13 fighters killed.
Pakistani security sources said operations included air bombings and ground actions against military posts, barracks and weapons depots.
Videos verified by international agencies and media showed thick columns of smoke over Kabul and explosions.
An Afghan military officer cited by international media said at least one ammunition depot in Kabul was bombed.
Pakistan’s state broadcaster reported strikes on an arsenal in Kandahar.
The Taliban said they bombed several Pakistani military targets with drones.
The Government of Pakistan said all the aircraft were shot down and caused no damage, a claim that contradicts other accounts.
Afghanistan-Pakistan crisis
The escalation culminates months of rapidly deteriorating bilateral relations and is the most serious episode since the Taliban returned to power in August 2021.
Pakistan attributes the crisis to the presence of the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) on Afghan territory and accuses the Taliban government of allowing the group to take refuge, train and operate from Afghanistan.
The Afghan Taliban deny harboring the TTP and say Pakistan is deflecting from its internal security problems.
The article cites the Pak Institute for Peace Studies recording more than 440 deaths in nearly 300 attacks attributed to the TTP last year.
It also notes a UN Security Council report saying Al Qaeda "continues to enjoy the patronage of the de facto authorities" and that the Taliban government has provided weapons to the TTP, allegations Afghan authorities reject.
Russia, China and Iran have called for dialogue between Kabul and Islamabad.
China said it is working to mediate through its own channels, and Iran offered mediation and urged resolution through dialogue during the month of Ramadan.