Explosions echoed across Kabul as the Pakistan-Afghanistan conflict stretched into its fourth consecutive day, with Taliban forces reporting they engaged Pakistani aircraft entering Afghan airspace. The fighting marks a sharp and sustained escalation from border skirmishes into a broader military confrontation between the two nuclear-armed neighbors.
Pakistan conducted air strikes targeting what it described as Taliban military positions in Kabul, Kandahar and Paktia province. Pakistani officials reported significant Taliban casualties and the destruction of dozens of posts, while Taliban figures put their own losses far lower – a gap that reflects the near-total absence of independent verification on the ground.
The battlefield picture remains deeply contested:
- Pakistan claims 133 Taliban fighters killed and 27 posts destroyed
- The Taliban acknowledges just 8 fighters killed and 11 wounded
- Afghanistan says 55 Pakistani soldiers were killed; Pakistan denies this
- Afghan officials report at least 55 civilians killed since Thursday
The Pakistan-Afghanistan conflict has drawn urgent calls for restraint from the European Union, United Nations, Russia and several Gulf states. Yet diplomatic off-ramps appear narrow. Afghanistan signaled openness to negotiations, but Pakistan’s government publicly rejected any talks, demanding an end to what it calls cross-border terrorism linked to the Pakistani Taliban, or TTP.
Fighting near the Torkham border crossing and reported drone strikes on Pakistani military camps signal that neither side is pulling back.
