ISLAMABAD: Pakistan bombed major cities in Afghanistan, including the capital Kabul, on Friday (Feb 27), with Islamabad’s defence minister declaring the neighbours at “open war” 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 the southern power base of the Taliban authorities.
Near the key Torkham border crossing between the two countries, an AFP journalist heard shelling from around 9.30am (12.30pm, Singapore time) on Friday, and a camp accommodating Afghans returning en masse from Pakistan was hit by the fighting overnight.
“Children, women, and old people were running,” Gander Khan, a 65-year-old returnee, told AFP in front of rows of tents at the Omari camp.
Pakistan’s latest operation came after Afghan forces attacked Pakistani border troops on Thursday night over earlier air strikes by Islamabad.
Relations between the neighbours have plunged in recent months, with land border crossings largely shut since deadly fighting in October that killed more than 70 people on both sides.
Islamabad accuses Afghanistan of failing to act against militant groups that carry out attacks in Pakistan, which the Taliban government denies.
Most of the attacks have been claimed by the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), a militant group that has stepped up assaults in Pakistan since the Afghan Taliban returned to power in Kabul in 2021.
“Afghan Taliban defence targets were targeted in Kabul, Paktia (province) and Kandahar,” Pakistani Information Minister Attaullah Tarar posted on X, while Defence Minister Khawaja Asif declared an “all-out confrontation” with the Taliban government.
“Our patience has reached its limit. Now it is open war between us and you,” he posted on the social media platform.
https://www.channelnewsasia.com/asia/pakistan-bombs-afghanistan-kabul-taliban-open-war-5957096
