Pakistan launches airstrikes on Kabul as border clashes escalate
New Delhi, Feb 27: Pakistan carried out airstrikes on Afghanistan’s capital Kabul and other cities early Friday, sharply escalating hostilities between the two neighbours after days of clashes along their shared border.
According to Al Jazeera, explosions were heard in Kabul around 1:50am local time, followed by a second air raid. Afghan anti-aircraft guns reportedly responded after the first strike and continued firing after the second. An Afghan government source confirmed that Kabul was hit, while Pakistani warplanes also targeted a military base in Kandahar province in southern Afghanistan.
Pakistan’s Defence Minister Khawaja Asif said Islamabad’s “patience has run out” with the Taliban authorities in Afghanistan and declared that Pakistan would now wage “open war”. He described the strikes as a response to what he called Afghan aggression.
Information Minister Attaullah Tarar said 133 Afghan Taliban fighters had been killed in the attacks, with positions targeted in Kabul, Kandahar and Paktia. He added that nine Taliban positions had been captured and 27 destroyed, and that operations were continuing, reports Al Jazeera.
Afghan authorities said they had launched retaliatory strikes on Pakistani military bases in Kandahar and Helmand following the latest air raids. Taliban spokesperson Zabihullah Mujahid confirmed Afghan counterattacks.
Earlier, Afghanistan’s Tolo News cited a statement from the Ministry of Defense of Afghanistan saying retaliatory operations against Pakistani military posts along the Durand Line ended at midnight on orders from Chief of Army Staff Fasihuddin Fitrat. The statement claimed 55 Pakistani soldiers were killed, two headquarters and 19 check posts were captured, and weapons seized. It said eight Afghan soldiers were killed and 11 wounded.
The ministry also alleged that 13 civilians, including women and children, were injured in a Pakistani airstrike on a temporary camp for returnees in Torkham, and said its operations were conducted in response to earlier Pakistani airstrikes on Afghan territory.
The rapidly intensifying exchanges mark one of the most serious escalations between the two countries in recent years.
