The airstrikes came hours after Afghan troops had attacked Pakistani border positions and follow months of worsening relations between the neighboring countries.
Pakistan and Afghanistan engaged in their fiercest clashes in years on Friday, according to officials from both nations, escalating months of tension and border skirmishes into an open conflict. Afghan troops stormed dozens of Pakistani border positions and Pakistan responded with a wave of airstrikes targeting major cities and military hubs.
Beyond Kabul, home to six million people, the strikes hit the southern city of Kandahar — where the Taliban’s supreme leader, Sheikh Haibatullah Akhundzada, lives — and four border provinces, according to Lt. Gen. Ahmed Sharif Chaudhry, the Pakistani military spokesman.
“That’s what has been done so far,” General Sharif said at a news briefing on Friday. “This is continuing.”
Pakistan launched strikes on more than 20 locations, General Sharif said, hours after Afghan troops had attacked more than 50 Pakistani border positions. Afghan officials described that assault as retaliation for Pakistani strikes earlier in the week.
Read more…
https://www.nytimes.com/2026/02/26/world/asia/pakistan-afghanistan-taliban.html
