Pakistan bombed main cities in Afghanistan, together with the capital Kabul, on Friday (February 27, 2026), with Islamabad’s Defence Minister declaring the neighbours at “open struggle” following months of tit-for-tat clashes.
AFP journalists in Kabul and Kandahar heard blasts and jets overhead, as Pakistan launched air strikes on the Afghan capital and southern energy base of the Taliban authorities.
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Pakistan’s newest operation got here after Afghan forces attacked Pakistani border troops on Thursday (February 26, 2026) evening over earlier air strikes by Islamabad.
Relations between the neighbours have plunged in current months, with land border crossings largely shut since lethal combating in October that killed greater than 70 folks on each side.
Islamabad accuses Afghanistan of failing to behave in opposition to militant teams that perform assaults in Pakistan, which the Taliban authorities denies.
A number of rounds of negotiations adopted an preliminary ceasefire brokered by Qatar and Turkey, however the efforts have failed to provide a long-lasting settlement.
Each militaries stated they killed dozens of troopers within the newest spherical of border violence, which adopted a number of Pakistani strikes on Afghanistan and clashes alongside the frontier in current months.
“Afghan Taliban defence targets have been focused in Kabul, Paktia [province] and Kandahar,” Pakistani Data Minister Attaullah Tarar posted on X, whereas Defence Minister Khawaja Asif declared an “all-out confrontation” with the Taliban authorities.
“Our endurance has reached its restrict. Now it’s open struggle between us and also you,” he posted on the social media platform.
Pakistan’s Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif stated his nation’s armed forces can “have the complete functionality to crush any aggressive ambitions”.
Jets overhead
Within the Afghan capital AFP journalists heard jets and a number of loud blasts, adopted by gunfire, over a interval of a number of hours.
An AFP reporter in Afghanistan’s southern metropolis of Kandahar, the place Supreme Chief Hibatullah Akhundzada relies, stated he heard jets overhead.
The Taliban authorities confirmed the Pakistani air strikes, with spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid saying there have been no casualties.
Hours earlier, Mujahid introduced “large-scale offensive operations” on the border “in response to repeated violations by the Pakistani navy”.
The Afghan Defence Ministry reported eight of its troopers had been killed within the land offensive.
An Afghan official reported a number of civilians wounded close to the Torkham border crossing, at a camp for folks coming back from Pakistan.
“A mortar shell has hit the camp and sadly seven of our refugees have been wounded, and the situation of 1 lady is critical,” stated Qureshi Badlun, the knowledge chief in Nangarhar province.
Whereas the border has largely been closed since October, Afghan returnees have been allowed to cross.
Months of border violence
Mujahid, the Taliban authorities spokesman, advised AFP that a number of Pakistani troopers had been “caught alive”, a declare denied by the Prime Minister’s Workplace in Islamabad.
The navy operation follows Pakistani strikes on Nangarhar and Paktika provinces in a single day into Sunday (February 22, 2026), which the UN mission in Afghanistan stated killed no less than 13 civilians.
Either side additionally reported cross-border fireplace on Tuesday (February 24, 2026), however with out casualties.
There was a sequence of lethal suicide blasts in Pakistan and Afghanistan in current months.
They included an assault on a Shiite mosque in Islamabad that killed no less than 40 folks and was claimed by the Islamic State group.
The militant group’s regional chapter, Islamic State-Khorasan, additionally claimed a lethal suicide bombing at a restaurant in Kabul final month.
After repeated breaches of the preliminary ceasefire, Saudi Arabia intervened this month, mediating the discharge of three Pakistani troopers captured by Afghanistan in October.
Printed – February 27, 2026 09:02 am IST