Pakistan bombs Kabul in 'open war' on Afghanistan's Taliban government

Pakistan bombed major cities in Afghanistan, including the capital Kabul, on Friday, with Islamabad's defence minister declaring the neighbours at "open war" following months of tit-for-tat clashes.

AFP reporters in Kabul and Kandahar heard blasts and jets overhead until dawn, and the Taliban government said Pakistani surveillance aircraft were flying over Afghanistan on Friday afternoon.

The overnight operation was Pakistan's most widespread bombardment of the Afghan capital and its first air strikes on the southern power base of the Taliban authorities since they returned to power in 2021.

Near the key Torkham border crossing, an AFP journalist heard shelling on Friday morning, and a camp accommodating Afghans who had returned from Pakistan was hit by the fighting overnight.

"Children, women, and old people were running," Gander Khan, a 65-year-old man, 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 in retaliation for earlier air strikes by Islamabad.

Taliban government spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid said Afghan forces killed 55 Pakistani soldiers and captured several others, while putting the death toll among Afghan troops at 13.

The head of the Pakistan military's publicity wing, Lieutenant General Ahmed Sharif Chaudhry, told reporters "274 Taliban regime members and terrorists" had been killed, for the loss of 12 Pakistani troops.

Casualty claims from both sides are difficult to verify independently.

The sharp surge in hostilities drew international concern, with China, Britain, and the International Committee of the Red Cross calling for immediate de-escalation and return to dialogue.

AFP