Last night, Pakistani attacks on Afghanistan left dozens dead.Image: keystone
02/27/2026, 06:2402/27/2026, 06:33
After an offensive by the Afghan Taliban, Pakistan’s air force attacked military facilities in the neighboring country overnight. Targets in the Afghan capital Kabul and the provinces of Kandahar and Paktia were also bombed. Pakistani Defense Minister Khawaja Asif speaks of an “open war” with Afghanistan after the recent mutual attacks. He announced this on Friday on X.
Afghanistan had previously attacked Pakistani positions along the disputed border. The Afghan Ministry of Defense said in a statement on X that 55 Pakistani soldiers were killed. Pakistani positions in the border area had been taken.
Pakistani President Asif Ali Zardari wrote last night on X that the response of the Pakistani armed forces was comprehensive and decisive. His country will not make any concessions regarding peace and territorial integrity. Pakistani Information Minister Attaullah Tarar said on X that 133 Afghan Taliban fighters were killed in counterstrikes. Weapon depots, tanks and military installations, among other things, were destroyed in attacks. The information provided by both sides could not initially be independently verified.
UN Secretary-General António Guterres called on Afghanistan and Pakistan to de-escalate in light of recent mutual attacks. The parties should try to resolve all differences through diplomatic channels, said Guterres, according to his spokesman Stéphane Dujarric.
Conflict between neighbors flares up again
Just last weekend, Pakistan attacked positions in Afghanistan. The UN Assistance Mission for Afghanistan (UNAMA) subsequently announced that 13 civilians had died in the air strikes and seven others were injured. Taliban spokesman Sabiullah Mujahid described the subsequent attacks on Pakistan as a counteroffensive.
Relations between the neighboring countries Afghanistan and Pakistan have recently deteriorated massively. Fighting only broke out in the fall. According to the UN, 70 Afghan civilians died in Pakistani attacks. Peace negotiations brokered by the Gulf Emirate of Qatar and Turkey did not bring about a sustainable solution to the conflict.
What is behind the fighting?
Islamabad accuses Kabul of harboring terrorists who carry out attacks in Pakistan. Kabul denies this.
In particular, the group Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) – widely known as the Pakistan Taliban – and a regional branch of the Islamic State (IS) have been carrying out more and more attacks in Pakistan for years. According to the Pakistan Institute for Peace Studies, the number of terrorist attacks in Pakistan rose to nearly 700 in 2025.
The United Nations also wrote in a recently published report that the government in Kabul provides a favorable environment for various terrorist groups in the country and supports the Pakistani Taliban. The ruling Taliban denies this.
The neighboring countries share a border of around 2,400 kilometers, which was created in 1893 between what was then British India and the Emirate of Afghanistan. The course of the de facto border, known as the “Durand Line,” is disputed between the countries. (leo/sda/dpa)