Taliban security inspect a vehicle at a checkpoint in Kabul, Afghanistan, on Friday, February 26, 2026. Photo by Samiullah Popal/EPA
Feb. 26 (UPI) — Pakistan conducted airstrikes in areas of Kabul, Kandahar and Paktia overnight, officials from both countries said, as Islamabad’s defense minister early Friday declared Pakistan was in “open war” with Afghanistan.
Pakistani warplanes struck areas of the Afghan capital Kabul and its second-largest city, Kandahar, and Paktia province, Zabihullah Mujahid, spokesman for Afghanistan’s ruling Taliban, said in a statement, claiming there were no casualties — which Pakistan disputes.
Mosharraf Zaidi, spokesman for Pakistan’s prime minister, said Afghan military targets were hit, and claimed 133 Afghan Taliban fighters were killed and more than 200 wounded. The figures could not be independently verified.
Twenty-seven Afghan military posts were destroyed and nine captured in the assaults, he said.
“Our cup of patience has overflowed. Now it is open war between us,” Pakistan Defense Minister Khawaja Asif said in a statement.
“Pakistan’s army did not come from across the seas. We are your neighbors; we know your ins and outs.”
The airstrikes were carried out after Afghan forces attacked Pakistani border positions late Thursday, according to Afghanistan’s Ministry of National Defense, which said the assault was retaliatory for Pakistan’s fatal strike on seven militant camps and hideouts last week.
The latest explosion in violence follows months of escalating tensions between the two countries, with Pakistan repeatedly accusing Afghanistan of harboring terrorists, in particular the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan, an Islamist group seeking to overthrow the Islamabad government.
Afghanistan has repeatedly denied the allegations Pakistan has leveled since the Taliban returned to power in August 2021.
Pakistan blames TTP and other Afghan-based terrorists for a series of brutal attacks over the years, and has carried out repeated airstrikes in Afghanistan in response, including in October.