Pakistan has declared "open war" against Afghanistan's Taliban government after launching airstrikes on targets in Kabul, Kandahar and other provinces near the border. Defence minister Khawaja Mohammad Asif said Islamabad's "patience has now run out" following what it described as unprovoked cross-border fire.
The Taliban said it carried out retaliatory attacks on Pakistani military positions along the disputed Durand Line. Both sides reported heavy casualties, but figures vary sharply and remain unverified. Afghan officials claimed dozens of Pakistani soldiers were killed and some captured, while Pakistan said it had inflicted far higher losses on Taliban fighters and denied any troops were taken.
The escalation marks the collapse of a fragile ceasefire brokered in October and signals the most direct confrontation yet between Islamabad and the Taliban authorities in Kabul. International actors including the UK, China and Russia have urged restraint, warning that further escalation risks wider regional instability...