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04-03-2026
By SJA Jafri + Agencies
ISLAMABAD/ KABUL: Residents of Kabul’s District 6 were awakened abruptly on Thursday night by the sound of an explosion that shook their homes. They rushed out in the street and heard jets flying overhead.
It was a night that saw a serious escalation in violence between Afghanistan and Pakistan, with Pakistan launching airstrikes in Afghanistan including its capital city, Kabul. Other places struck were in Paktia and Kandahar provinces, the latter a stronghold and the birthplace of the Taliban movement.
Hostilities between the two sides have been ongoing for months, yet the answer to who started the aggression depends on who you ask.
Earlier in the night, Afghanistan’s Taliban government said it had launched a major ground operation against Pakistani military positions near the border, claiming to have captured several posts, and also claiming to have captured and killed Pakistani soldiers.
The Taliban government says they were “retaliatory operations”, a response after “Pakistani military elements carried out an incursion into Afghan territory, violated Afghan sovereignty, and caused the deaths of several civilians, including women and children”.
They were referring to an earlier round of Pakistani airstrikes carried out less than a week ago, on the night of 21 February, targeting the eastern Nangarhar and Paktika provinces. The United Nations has said it has credible reports that 13 Afghan civilians were killed in those strikes.
Islamabad has a different view. It says its airstrikes have not targeted civilians but instead have targeted militant hideouts in Afghanistan, specifically those of the Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) or the Pakistani Taliban, which Pakistan’s government refers to as Fitna al Khawarij.
Pakistan says it has “conclusive evidence” that TTP has been behind a series of attacks in the country, including the recent suicide bombing of a Shia mosque in Islamabad in which more than 30 people were killed. IS claimed to be behind the Islamabad attack, but Pakistan has said it has “conclusive evidence” the TTP is behind it.
Pakistan also alleges the attacks are being carried out at the behest of the TTP’s Afghanistan-based leadership and handlers, who are being supported by the Taliban government.
The Taliban government repeatedly maintains that its territory is not being used to threaten the security of any country, and that Pakistan’s actions in Afghanistan are “unprovoked”.
The last serious flare up between the two neighbors was in October 2025 with days of cross border strikes between Afghanistan and Pakistan, and Pakistan launching airstrikes in Afghanistan.
Qatar and Turkey mediated between the two sides, with talks held in Doha and Istanbul. A fragile ceasefire followed, but the negotiations failed to bring about a ceasing of hostilities between the two sides.
Both countries blamed the other for not engaging seriously in diplomacy.
Militarily, Pakistan has the upper hand by a long mile. It is a significant military power with hundreds of tanks and aircraft, and advanced defence technology.
Afghanistan’s Taliban government has military equipment left behind by the former Afghan and foreign forces and despite sanctions, reports suggest it has been able to purchase some military equipment through the black market.
So far, there’s no evidence that it has the planes or the capability to launch airstrikes deep into Pakistan.
