Tensions between Afghanistan and Pakistan have boiled over into unprecedented territory, with Taliban officials boldly claiming airstrikes on Pakistan’s capital, Islamabad. Deputy spokesman Hamdullah Fitrat detailed the operations on social media, stating Afghan Air Force jets hammered military targets in Faizabad near Islamabad, Naushera cantonment, Jamrud colony, and Abbottabad starting at 11 AM Friday.
“These precise strikes neutralized critical Pakistani military hubs,” Fitrat wrote, framing them as payback for Pakistan’s nocturnal raids on Afghan soil in Kabul, Kandahar, and Paktia that struck civilian areas.
Building on this aerial campaign, Afghan ground troops mounted a fierce counteroffensive across the porous Durand Line. The Defense Ministry boasted of overrunning two enemy bases and 19 outposts, inflicting 55 fatalities on Pakistani ranks while capturing prisoners and booty like heavy arms, ammo stockpiles, a tank wreck, and a transport truck.
The brutal four-hour battle cost Afghanistan eight lives and left 11 fighters injured. Separately, outrage mounted over a Pakistani missile barrage on a Nangarhar refugee camp, wounding 13 innocents.
Pakistan responded by locking down cities. Karachi’s top cop issued high-alert directives for all vital infrastructure, from airports to offices. Sindh’s security apparatus is on full throttle, monitoring every corner amid fears of spillover violence.
What began as border skirmishes has spiraled into direct assaults on capital heartlands, signaling a precarious new phase in Afghan-Pakistani relations that could draw in global powers.