Pak-Afghan Conflict Intensifies

ISLAMABAD: The armed conflict between Pakistani forces and Afghan Taliban have intensified during the past 24 hours with Pakistani jets carrying out air strikes against Taliban targets in major Afghan cities like Kabul and Kandahar and Afghan Taliban sending pilotless drones into Pakistani territory which have caused minimal damage in Pakistani civilian areas.

The Pakistan Air Force (PAF) carried airstrikes in Kabul, Kandahar, and Paktika, targeting Taliban military headquarters of their 313 Brigade and 205 Brigade), Taliban’s ammo depots, and command centers. Taliban forces used weaponized drones to strike targets far inside Pakistan, including Nowshera, Abbottabad, and Swabi.

Pakistani Defense Minister, Khawaja Asif said that now there would be an open war with Afghan Taliban after they had failed to nab the terrorists and militants hiding in their territory.

The Pakistan government has named the operation against Afghan Taliban Ghazab lil-Haq, which the information minister said was ongoing. Pakistani armed forces have targeted and destroyed several Afghan Taliban’s checkposts at the Pak-Afghan border areas, Pakistani officials said, “Security forces have destroyed Afghan Taliban’s Aryana Complex, Dubgai checkpost, police headquarters, and Zakir Khail post, the sources said, adding that Pakistan’s armed forces forced the Afghan Taliban forces to flee their checkposts”.

Information Minister Attaullah Tarar said the strikes by Pakistan in Afghanistan targeted military installations and terrorist bases, adding that Kabul’s Green Zone was not touched during the operation.

“Their military installations have been completely destroyed. This is an ongoing situation and we will see where the situation leads,” he said, while speaking on Geo News.

“Afghan Taliban tried skirmishes, firing, and tried to inflict harm in Khyber and Chitral. However, they did not have the capacity. They do not have any capability in conventional warfare,” he said.

He noted that a difference in tone had been observed in the Afghan Taliban since yesterday.

A cursory look at military comparison between Pakistani military and Afghan Taliban forces would reveal that Pakistan maintains a high-tech national air force and Pakistani military leaders are putting this air force to better use in the armed conflict with Afghan forces. Pakistan Air Force maintains the inventory of JF-17 fighter jets and F-16 jets, and a vast artillery corps.

Afghan Taliban completely lack a regular and functional air force, the Taliban rely on unconventional warfare, utilizing “laser units” for night combat, suicide bombers, and captured Soviet-era hardware or US-leftover equipment like Humvees.

However, the conflict has gone beyond “cross-border firing”. Afghan Taliban have launched large-scale ground assaults targeting over 50 Pakistani border positions simultaneously across six provinces. Pakistan has responded with “multi-domain operations,” integrating air cover with ground-based heavy artillery and tank deployments to secure the frontier.

Pakistan and Afghan Taliban relations have deteriorated during the past one year to an extent that now the leaders on both sides only use threatening language against each other. This is the second time that Pakistani forces and Afghan Taliban are engaging in armed conflict during the past one year.

At the time of Taliban take over of Kabul, the relations between Afghan Taliban and Pakistani government were considered ideal when Pakistan’s Defense Minister, Khawaja Asif hailed Afghan Taliban victory as victory of God fearing people in Afghanistan.

Afghan Taliban, however refused to heed to Pakistani requests to control Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan which has been operating from Afghan territory against Pakistani military and government installations in Pak-Afghan border areas.

Pakistan;s repeated requests to Afghan Taliban to control TTP fell on deaf ears and violence continued to rise in border provinces of Pakistan.

Four days back Pakistan carried out Pakistan Air force carried out air strikes against TTP hideouts inside Afghanistan killing at least 80 terrorists in the process.

Mosharraf Zaidi, the prime minister’s spokesperson for foreign media, has given an update on Operation Ghazab lil-Haq, saying Pakistan’s efforts to eliminate the scourge of terrorism emanating from Afghanistan continued through the day. He said, “A total of 297 Afghan Taliban are confirmed killed, and more than 450 are reported injured.”

He further said that 89 Afghan Taliban posts have been destroyed and 18 have been captured, while 135 Afghan Taliban regime tanks and armored personnel carriers have been destroyed. “Twenty-nine locations across Afghanistan have been subjected to aerial targeting,” he said.

As of February 27, 2026, the situation between Pakistan and Afghanistan has escalated significantly. While historically described as “clashes,” the current hostilities are now being characterized by officials as an “open war”.