Pakistan and Afghanistan exchanged heavy cross-border military strikes on Thursday and Friday, marking the most serious armed confrontation between the two neighbors since the Taliban's return to power in 2021.
The Pakistani military conducted what it described as "precision strikes" on Taliban positions in Kabul and Kandahar provinces early Friday morning, hours after Afghanistan launched what Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid called "large-scale offensive operations" against Pakistani military installations along the disputed Durand Line border.
According to Taliban sources cited by Al Jazeera, Afghan forces captured 13 Pakistani outposts and killed 10 soldiers during Thursday's operations. Islamabad disputed these figures and claimed its retaliatory strikes killed 133 Taliban fighters and destroyed 27 positions.
To understand today's headlines, we must look at yesterday's decisions. The current crisis stems from Pakistan's longstanding accusation that the Taliban-led government harbors the Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), a militant group that has carried out devastating attacks inside Pakistan. Kabul has repeatedly denied these allegations.
The fighting began Sunday when Pakistan conducted air strikes on targets in Nangarhar and Paktia provinces. Islamabad claimed it killed at least 70 fighters, while the Taliban government insisted the strikes killed civilians, including women and children.
Zabihullah Mujahid framed Thursday's response as retaliation for "repeated provocations and violations by Pakistani military circles." The Taliban, which swept to power after the chaotic U.S. withdrawal in August 2021, has grown increasingly assertive in its dealings with Pakistan, a nation that once provided crucial support to the movement during its insurgency years.
The escalation raises profound regional security concerns. Pakistan possesses nuclear weapons and has fought four wars with neighboring India. Any sustained conflict along its western border would stretch its military capabilities and potentially create opportunities for militant groups operating in the region.
For the Taliban government, still unrecognized by any nation and struggling with economic collapse and humanitarian crisis, armed conflict with Pakistan represents a dangerous gamble. The regime depends on Pakistan's Karachi port and land routes for much of its limited trade and has few allies willing to provide diplomatic or military support.
"This is unprecedented," one Western diplomat based in Islamabad told this correspondent on condition of anonymity. "The Taliban have never directly engaged Pakistani forces at this scale. It signals either desperation or a fundamental miscalculation about their military capabilities."
Neither side has indicated willingness to de-escalate. Pakistan's military leadership has vowed to continue operations until what it calls "terrorist infrastructure" in Afghanistan is eliminated, while the Taliban government insists it will defend Afghan sovereignty against external aggression.
The international community has issued calls for restraint, but with limited leverage over either party. The Taliban remains isolated, while Pakistan faces its own political and economic turmoil that makes compromise difficult for any government to justify domestically.
