Pakistani Minister of Defense Khawaja Asif early yesterday said that his country had run out of “patience” and now considers itself in an “open war” with Afghanistan, after both sides launched strikes following what Islamabad described as an Afghan cross-border attack.
Asif wrote on X that Pakistan had hoped for peace in Afghanistan after the withdrawal of NATO forces, and expected the Taliban to focus on the welfare of Afghans and regional stability.
Instead, the Taliban had turned Afghanistan “into a colony of India,” gathered militants from around the world and begun “exporting terrorism,” he said.
Photo: AFP
“Our patience has now run out. Now it is open war between us,” he said.
Pakistan has frequently accused India of backing the outlawed Baloch Liberation Army and the Pakistani Taliban, allegations New Delhi denies.
His remarks came hours after Pakistan carried out airstrikes in Afghanistan’s Kabul, Kandahar and Paktia Province.
Pakistan said the strikes were in retaliation for Afghan cross-border attacks.
The escalation comes months after Qatar and Turkey mediated a ceasefire between the two sides.
Both governments have issued sharply differing casualty claims and said they inflicted heavy losses on the other. The claims could not be independently verified.
The Afghan Ministry of Defense said 55 Pakistani soldiers had been killed, including some whose bodies were taken into Afghanistan, and that “several others were captured alive.”
Eight Afghan soldiers were killed and 11 wounded, it said, adding that it destroyed 19 Pakistani army posts and two bases.
The fighting ended around midnight, about four hours after it began on Thursday, it said.
Pakistani Minister for Information and Broadcasting Attaullah Tarar said two Pakistani soldiers were killed and three wounded.
Mosharraf Zaidi, a spokesman for Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, denied that any Pakistani soldiers had been captured, and said at least 133 Afghan fighters were killed and more than 200 wounded.
Twenty-seven Afghan posts were destroyed and nine fighters captured, he added.
In Islamabad, two senior security officials said Afghan forces at some border posts had raised white flags, a gesture typically interpreted as a request to halt firing.
Pakistani forces were continuing what they described as a strong retaliatory response to “unprovoked aggression” by the Afghan Taliban and had destroyed several key Taliban posts along the border, the officials said, who spoke on condition of anonymity.
Asif accused the Taliban government of denying Afghans basic human rights, including rights for women that he said are guaranteed under Islam, without providing details or evidence.
Pakistan had tried to maintain stability directly and through friendly countries, he said.
“Today, when attempts were made to target Pakistan with aggression, by the grace of God, our armed forces are giving a decisive response,” he said.
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