Pakistan and Afghanistan exchange heavy fire after cross-border attacks, officials report casualties

Pakistan has announced a state of open hostilities with Afghanistan following reported cross-border attacks late Thursday night that sharply escalated tensions along the frontier.

Pakistan’s Defence Minister Khawaja Muhammad Asif said the government would respond decisively after Afghan-based Taliban fighters allegedly targeted Pakistani military checkpoints near the border. Taliban officials claimed they launched attacks around 8 p.m., capturing 19 Pakistani military posts and two bases, and said 55 Pakistani soldiers were killed. Those figures have not been independently verified.

Pakistan’s military said it carried out retaliatory strikes after what it described as Taliban gunfire in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province. Military spokesperson Ahmed Sharif Chaudhry stated that air operations were conducted in Kabul, Kandahar and Paktika, targeting 22 Afghan military sites. He claimed more than 200 Taliban fighters were killed in the strikes. Pakistani authorities also confirmed that approximately 12 of their own soldiers died in the clashes.

Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif said the country would not compromise on national security and pledged continued action to defend Pakistan’s territorial integrity. Afghan officials have not released detailed casualty figures in response to the Pakistani claims.

The latest escalation underscores ongoing instability along the Afghanistan–Pakistan border, where militant activity and cross-border accusations have repeatedly strained diplomatic relations. Regional security analysts warn that further escalation could have broader implications for South Asia, particularly as both countries face internal political and economic pressures.