Pakistan in 'Open War' With Afghanistan02/27 06:03

   Pakistan and Afghanistan traded attacks in a dramatic escalation of tensions 
between the countries that Pakistan's defense minister said Friday means they 
are now in "open war."

   ISLAMABAD (AP) -- Pakistan and Afghanistan traded attacks in a dramatic 
escalation of tensions between the countries that Pakistan's defense minister 
said Friday means they are now in "open war."

   Tensions have been high between the neighbors for months, with border 
clashes in October killing dozens of soldiers, civilians and suspected 
militants. Pakistan accuses Afghanistan's Taliban government of harboring 
militant groups that then stage attacks across the border and also of allying 
with its archrival India.

   A Qatari-mediated ceasefire ended the fighting, although the two sides still 
occasionally trade fire. Several rounds of peace talks in Istanbul in November 
failed to produce a formal agreement.

   Late Thursday, Afghanistan launched a cross-border attack on Pakistan, 
saying it was in retaliation for deadly Pakistani airstrikes on Afghan border 
areas Sunday.

   Pakistan then carried out airstrikes in Kabul and two other Afghan provinces 
early Friday.

   After the strikes Friday, Defense Minister Khawaja Mohammad Asif said in an 
X post that Pakistan had hoped for peace in Afghanistan after the withdrawal of 
NATO forces in 2021 and expected the Taliban, which seized power in the 
country, to focus on the welfare of the Afghan people and regional stability.

   Instead, he said that the Taliban had turned Afghanistan "into a colony of 
India," with which Pakistan has periodically engaged in wars, clashes and 
skirmishes since gaining independence from British colonial rule in 1947. India 
has had improved ties with Afghanistan recently, offering to enhance bilateral 
trade, to the annoyance of Islamabad.

   "Our patience has now run out. Now it is open war between us," he said. 
There was no immediate reaction from Afghan officials.

   Afghan authorities in the eastern Nangarhar province said that fighting was 
ongoing in the Torkham border area Friday morning. The province's information 
directorate said that Pakistani mortar fire hit civilian areas in Torkham, 
including a refugee camp, which had been evacuated overnight. In response, 
Afghanistan was targeting Pakistani army posts across the border, it said.

   'Exporting terrorism'

   Asif, the Pakistani defense minister, accused Afghanistan of "exporting 
terrorism." Islamabad frequently levies the allegation at its western neighbor 
as militant violence has surged in Pakistan, accusing Afghanistan of supporting 
the Pakistani Taliban, or TTP, and outlawed Baloch separatist groups.

   Pakistan accuses the TTP -- which is separate from but closely allied with 
Afghanistan's Taliban -- of operating from inside Afghanistan. Both the group 
and Kabul deny that charge.

   Pakistan has also frequently accused neighboring India of backing the 
outlawed Baloch Liberation Army and the Pakistani Taliban, allegations New 
Delhi denies.

   Asif's comments came hours after Pakistan carried out airstrikes in 
Afghanistan's capital, Kabul, as well as in Kandahar in the south and Paktia 
province in the southeast, according to Pakistani officials and Afghanistan 
government spokesperson Zabihullah Mujahid. Pakistan said the strikes were in 
retaliation for the Afghan cross-border attacks.

   Retaliatory strikes

   Afghanistan, meanwhile, said that it launched its attack late Thursday also 
in retaliation -- for deadly Pakistani airstrikes on Afghan border areas Sunday.

   The governments have issued sharply differing casualty claims. Each said 
that it inflicted heavy losses of dozens of soldiers on the other, while 
putting its own casualty figures in the single digits. The claims couldn't be 
independently verified.

   Afghanistan also claimed it had captured an undisclosed number of Pakistani 
soldiers. Mosharraf Ali Zaidi, a spokesperson for Pakistani Prime Minister 
Shehbaz Sharif, denied any soldiers had been captured.

   Information Minister Attaullah Tarar said Pakistan's anti-drone systems shot 
down several small drones over the northwestern cities of Abbottabad, Swabi, 
and Nowshera on Friday. He said the drones appeared to be part of a failed 
attack by the Pakistani Taliban, and that there were no casualties. Tarar 
claimed the drone attacks "once again exposed direct linkages between the 
Afghan Taliban regime and terrorism in Pakistan."

   International calls for restraint

   Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan held separate phone calls with his 
Pakistani, Afghan, Qatari and Saudi counterparts on Friday to discuss the 
conflict, a Turkish official said, without providing details on the talks. The 
official spoke on condition of anonymity in line with government policy.

   In October, Turkey, Qatar and Saudi Arabia had facilitated talks between the 
sides.

   U.N. Secretary-General Antnio Guterres urged both sides to protect 
civilians as required under international law and "to continue to seek to 
resolve any differences through diplomacy," U.N. spokesperson Stephane Dujarric 
said in a statement.

   Russia called for an immediate halt to the fighting and for a diplomatic 
resolution to the conflict, Russian diplomat Zamir Kabulov told news agency Ria 
Novosti. Kabulov, who is President Vladimir Putin's special envoy for 
Afghanistan, said that Moscow would consider mediating between the two 
countries if asked, according to Ria Novosti.

   Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi urged Pakistan and Afghanistan to 
resolve their differences through dialogue during the holy month of Ramadan. He 
also said that Tehran was ready to assist in facilitating dialogue.

   Refugees at the border

   Pakistani authorities said that dozens of Afghan refugees in the Torkham 
border area had been relocated to safer places.

   Pakistan launched a sweeping crackdown in October 2023 to expel migrants 
without documents, urging those in the country to leave of their own accord to 
avoid arrest and forcibly expelling others. Iran also began a crackdown on 
migrants at around the same time.

   Since then, millions have crossed the border into Afghanistan, including 
people who were born in Pakistan decades ago and had built lives and created 
businesses there.

   Last year alone, 2.9 million people returned to Afghanistan, the U.N. 
refugee agency has said, with nearly 80,000 having returned so far this year.