KABUL/ISLAMABAD: Pakistan bombed Taliban government forces in Afghanistan’s major cities overnight, the first time it has directly targeted its former allies, and described the situation as “open war,” raising tensions in a volatile, nuclear-armed region.
The Pakistani strikes hit the capital Kabul and the city of Kandahar, where Taliban leaders are based. It was the first time Islamabad has attacked the Taliban rather than militants allegedly backed by them, a stark rupture in ties between the Islamic neighbors.
Security sources in Pakistan said the strikes involved air-to-ground missile attacks on Taliban military offices and posts in Kabul, Kandahar as well as Paktia province. There were ground clashes in multiple sectors along the border between the Islamic nations.
The Taliban said it launched what it described as retaliatory attacks on Pakistani military installations.
Afghanistan wants to resolve its latest conflict with Pakistan through dialogue, Afghan Taliban spokesperson Zabihullah Mujahid told reporters on Friday, amid intense fighting between the neighbors this week.
Both sides reported heavy losses, issuing sharply differing figures that Reuters could not independently verify.
“Our cup of patience has overflowed. Now it is open war between us and you (Afghanistan),” Pakistani Defense Minister Khawaja Muhammad Asif said on Friday.
نیٹو کی افواج کے انخلاء کے بعد یہ توقع کی جاتی تھی کہ افغانستان میں امن ھو گا اور طالبان افغانُ عوام کے مفادات اور علاقہ میں امن پہ توجہ مرکوز کریںُ گے۔مگر طالبان نے افغانستان کو ھندوستان کی کالونی بنا دیا۔ ساری دنیا کے دھشت گردوں کا افغانستان میں اکٹھا کر لیا اور دھشت گردی کو…
— Khawaja M. Asif (@KhawajaMAsif) February 26, 2026
Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan discussed the conflict between Afghanistan and Pakistan in separate calls on Friday with counterparts from Pakistan, Afghanistan, Qatar, and Saudi Arabia, a Turkish diplomatic source said.
The source provided no further details.
Britain also expressed deep concern “by the significant escalation in tensions between Afghanistan and Pakistan,” UK Foreign Minister Yvette Cooper said Friday.
“We urge both sides to take immediate steps toward de-escalation, avoid further harm to civilians, and re-engage in mediated dialogue,” Britain’s top diplomat said on X.
Russia also urged Afghanistan and Pakistan to halt cross-border attacks immediately and resolve their differences by diplomatic means.
Russia is the only country to officially recognize the Taliban government of Afghanistan, and also has good relations with Pakistan.
“Of course, the direct military clashes that have taken place do not bode well. Therefore we hope that they will cease as soon as possible … Like everyone else, we are closely monitoring this situation,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters.
Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said Moscow was concerned by the sharp military escalation between the two neighbors.
“We call on our friends Afghanistan and Pakistan to abandon this dangerous confrontation and return to the negotiating table to resolve all differences through political and diplomatic means,” she wrote on Telegram.
Protracted conflict
The strikes threaten to unleash a protracted conflict along the 2,600-kilometer frontier with relations between Kabul and Islamabad shattered by a long-running dispute over Pakistan’s accusation that Afghanistan harbors militants carrying out attacks across the border.
The Taliban have denied the charge and said Pakistan’s security is an internal problem.
Pakistan is nuclear-armed and its military capabilities are vastly superior to Afghanistan. However, the Taliban are adept at guerrilla warfare, hardened by decades of fighting with US-led forces, before returning to power in 2021.
Saudi Arabia, Russia, China, and Turkiye were trying to mediate, diplomats and news reports said.
Iran, which borders both Afghanistan and Pakistan, has also offered to help, according to its foreign ministry. The offer came as Tehran holds crucial talks with Washington on resolving their longstanding nuclear dispute and averting new US strikes.
Drone strikes
Taliban spokesperson Zabihullah Mujahid confirmed Pakistani forces carried out air strikes in parts of Kabul, Kandahar and Paktia but did not give details.
On Friday, the Taliban defense ministry said it “successfully conducted” air strikes using drones to hit military targets in Pakistan. Pakistan’s Information Minister Attaullah Tarar said the strikes were carried out by Pakistani Taliban militants and all the drones brought down by anti-drone systems with “no damage to life.”
Videos shared by Pakistani security officials showed flashes of light in the night from firing along the border and the sound of heavy artillery. A video of strikes on Kabul, for which Reuters was able to verify the location, showed thick plumes of black smoke rising from two sites and a massive blaze in part of the capital.
Kabul taxi driver Tamim said he was asleep when he heard the sound of an aircraft, which was followed by strikes on what appeared to be a weapons depot.
“We woke up, and the plane came and dropped two bombs, then flew away again. After that, we heard explosions,” he said.
“Everyone, in panic, ran down from the second floor of the house. The ammunition inside the depot kept exploding on its own.”
Reuters witnesses in Kabul said many ambulance sirens could be heard following loud blasts and the sound of jets.
Mosharraf Zaidi, a Pakistani government spokesperson, said in a post on X that the action as a response to “unprovoked Afghan attacks,” adding 133 Afghan Taliban fighters were killed and more than 200 wounded, with 27 posts destroyed and nine captured.
Mujahid, the Taliban spokesperson, said 55 Pakistani soldiers were killed and 19 posts seized, while eight Taliban fighters were killed, 11 wounded and 13 civilians injured in Nangarhar province.
High security
Clashes between Pakistan and Afghanistan in October killed dozens of soldiers until negotiations facilitated by Turkiye, Qatar and Saudi Arabia brought an end to the hostilities.
Pakistan has been on high security alert since it launched air strikes earlier this week that Islamabad said targeted camps of Tehreek-e-Taliban (TTP), or Pakistani Taliban, and Daesh militants in eastern Afghanistan.
Kabul and the United Nations said the strikes killed 13 civilians and reiterated it does not allow militants to operate from its territory. The Taliban also warned there would be a strong response.
The government of Pakistan’s Punjab province said it was on high alert for militant attacks on Friday and had conducted a series of security operations, taking 90 Afghan nationals to holding centers for deportation.
A state-run media outlet from Afghanistan’s Nangarhar, Bakhtar News Agency, shared an image of what it said was a battalion of suicide attackers, and quoted an Afghan security source as saying the bombers were equipped with explosive vests and car bombs and were prepared to strike major targets.
Pakistani officials have said in recent days they feared an escalation of militant strikes in urban centers.
