New Delhi: Pakistan and Afghanistan are involved in one of the fiercest clashes in the recent times. On Friday morning, Pakistan’s armed forces carried out bombings in Afghanistan’s major cities, including Kabul and Kandahar. Islamabad has called it “open war” against its neighbour.
“Our cup of patience has overflowed. Now it is open war between us and you (Afghanistan),” Pakistani Defence Minister Khawaja Muhammad Asif said.
Pakistan’s Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Friday also sounded a stern warning to Afghanistan, stating that his country’s armed forces can “crush” aggressors.
Pakistan has claimed that the attacks involved air and ground strikes against Taliban posts, headquarters, and ammunition depots in multiple sectors along the border.
As per a Pakistan TV report, the Afghan Taliban had “waved white flags” over their posts after the Pakistani armed forces pounded it.
What media outlet from Afghanistan said
On the contrary, following Pakistani attacks, Bakhtar News Agency, a state-run media outlet from Afghanistan’s Nangarhar, showed an image. It was believed to be of a battalion of suicide attackers. The agency quoted an Afghan security source as saying that the bombers were armed with explosive vests and car bombs and were prepared to pounce on important targets.
Afghan Taliban soldiers look towards the Pakistani side, with one peering through the sight of his rifle, on the Afghan side of the Torkham border crossing with Pakistan in Torkham, Afghanistan, on Friday, Feb. 27, 2026. (Photo Credit: AP/PTI)
As per the agency, Hamdullah Fitrat, the deputy spokesman for the Taliban, has declared that major offensive and retaliatory operations are being carried out in different parts of the Durand Line– the Afghanistan-Pakistan border– in Paktia, Paktika, and Khost provinces.
What toll has the conflict taken till now
Shadow of a villager is seen next to solar plates and a portion damaged due to overnight cross border fighting between Pakistan and Afghan forces, at a village in Bajaur, a district of Pakistan’s Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province bordering with Afghanistan, on Friday, Feb. 27, 2026. (Photo: AP/PTI)
The human toll on both sides has been enormous. Pakistan has claimed that 133 Afghan Taliban fighters were killed and more than 200 wounded, with 27 posts destroyed and nine captured. Meanwhile, Afghanistan has said that 55 Pakistani soldiers were killed and 19 posts captured. It also said eight Afghan fighters were killed, and 11 wounded, and 13 civilians injured in Nangarhar.
Pakistan Air Force (PAF) jets are reportedly flying over Afghanistan’s Kandahar after carrying out airstrikes against Taliban positions. Taliban spokesperson Zabihullah Mujahid revealed that Pakistani forces conducted air strikes in parts of Kabul, Kandahar, and Paktia.
On Thursday night, Afghanistan launched “retaliatory strikes” on Pakistani military installations, After this, Pakistan hit Taliban posts and headquarters.