Pakistan's Defense Minister Khawaja Asif has declared that his country and the Taliban government in Afghanistan are now in a state of direct armed confrontation.
"Our patience has run out. This is now an open war between us and you," he wrote on X, expressing confidence that, given the proximity of the two nations, the Pakistani military knows its adversary and their weaknesses well.
Asif accused Kabul of "turning Afghanistan into an Indian colony," encouraging and exporting terrorism, and oppressing its own population.
"They have deprived their own people of basic human rights. They have taken away the rights that Islam guarantees to women," the minister emphasized.
Fighting broke out along the Pakistan-Afghanistan border on the evening of February 26. Kabul claimed it launched a military operation in response to Pakistani airstrikes, seizing 15 border posts. Islamabad, meanwhile, reported the destruction of Afghan fortifications and equipment during retaliatory actions. According to the Media Today portal, border clashes are ongoing, with the Pakistani army utilizing small arms, artillery, and strike drones.
On February 22, Pakistan’s Ministry of Information and Broadcasting announced targeted strikes against positions held by Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan and the Afghan branch of the Islamic State, Wilayat Khorasan (both groups banned in Russia). The ministry noted that the operation was a response to recent terrorist attacks in Pakistan, including a bombing at a mosque in Islamabad.
Afghan authorities reported that dozens of civilians were killed in the Pakistani attack, which they labeled an "act of provocation." Kabul stated that it reserves the right to respond decisively to the "violation of its territorial integrity."
GSV "Russia - Islamic World"
Photo: Burhan Ahmad/Unsplash
Based on materials from TASS