Afghanistan has carried out fresh strikes on Pakistani military installations, the Afghan defense ministry said Saturday, as tensions between the two neighbors spiral into their most serious confrontation in months.
The latest escalation follows Pakistan’s airstrikes inside Afghanistan last weekend, which Kabul says prompted a retaliatory offensive along the border on Thursday. Since then, both sides have exchanged a series of tit-for-tat attacks despite a ceasefire agreed to last October after a week of deadly clashes.
Afghanistan’s Air Force has “once again launched airstrikes on Pakistani military bases” in Miranshah and Spinwam, the Afghan Ministry of National Defense said in a statement on X, claiming the operations inflicted “severe damage and heavy casualties.”
“These successful operations were conducted in response to repeated aerial aggressions by the Pakistani military regime,” the ministry said.
The ministry added that Afghan forces also struck military targets in Islamabad and Abbottabad on Friday, describing the moves as retaliation for Pakistani aerial attacks in Kabul, Kandahar and Paktia.
Hamdullah Fitrat, deputy spokesman for the Afghan government, said at least 66 Afghan civilians — mostly women and children — were killed in Pakistani strikes, with 59 others wounded.
Pakistan has insisted it is targeting only military sites and is taking measures to avoid civilian casualties in line with international law. Pakistani officials said their forces have killed more than 330 Afghan fighters and hit 37 military locations across Afghanistan.
Zabihullah Mujahid, chief spokesperson for the Afghan government, earlier urged dialogue to defuse the crisis.
“We have always emphasized peaceful resolution, and now too we want the issue to be resolved through dialogue,” he said Friday.
Islamabad, however, rejected the possibility of talks.
“There won’t be any talks, there is nothing to talk about. There’s no negotiation. Terrorism from Afghanistan has to end,” Mosharraf Zaidi, spokesperson for Pakistan’s prime minister, said.
Pakistan has accused the Afghan Taliban of harboring militants from the banned Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) and allowing them to launch cross-border attacks — allegations Kabul denies, maintaining it does not permit its territory to be used against other countries.
As calls for international mediation grow, many Afghans say they fear a return to prolonged violence.
“Everyone heard the jets. This is the first time since the withdrawal of US invaders that we have heard such a horrible noise and news of damage. It is not good for us,” said Kandahar resident Shahid Zamari.
“We had forgotten the US war and its bad impact on us, on our families, on our children. And now this has come upon us again — by Pakistan, and in the holy month of Ramadan.”
In Kabul, Saleema Wardak said she rushed to wake her six children when explosions struck around 1:30 a.m. Friday, initially believing it was an earthquake.
“While standing in the yard, my husband told me it was not an earthquake but an explosion. Then we heard the crazy sounds of planes, and shooting from the mountains against the planes,” she said.
“We hid inside, worried another bomb would fall on us. People say Pakistan is targeting civilians on purpose to increase pressure on the Taliban. So we hid … The world is unjust … They do not value the blood of the poor.”
For Sabawoon, a 23-year-old student in Asadabad, the uncertainty is overwhelming.
“What to do? Where to go? We have to stay and find our way to survive,” he said. “God willing, nothing bad will happen to us. If they are bombing us, what can we do?”
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