Afghanistan launched a large-scale military offensive against Pakistan on Thursday, significantly escalating tensions along the disputed Durand Line. The move came after what Kabul described as repeated Pakistani provocations and airstrikes that violated Afghan sovereignty.
Heavy fighting broke out across multiple sectors of the Afghanistan-Pakistan border, particularly in Pakistan’s Khyber Pakhtunkhwa region. Afghan Taliban forces targeted Pakistani military checkpoints and installations in retaliation for airstrikes carried out by Islamabad on February 22.
Confirming the operation, Taliban spokesperson Zabihullah Mujahid stated that Afghan forces had launched coordinated attacks along the Durand Line.
“In response to repeated insurrections and insurrections by Pakistan’s military circles, extensive offensive operations were launched on Pakistani army centres and military facilities along the Durand Line,” Mujahid wrote in a post on X.
“In response to its rebellion and repeated acts of defiance by the special military clique of Pakistan, extensive offensive operations against the centres and military facilities of Pakistani forces along the Durand Line have commenced,” he added.
Security sources told CNN-News18 that Afghan Taliban units used artillery and infantry in coordinated strikes on Pakistani checkposts in the Maro Sar and Shahkot Sar areas near the Zakha Khel market. The attacks reportedly caused heavy casualties among Pakistani forces, with at least nine troops believed to have been seriously wounded.
The clashes subsequently spread to several flashpoints, including the Mohmand district, parts of Kurram, and the Arandu sector in Chitral. Sources further reported that residents in Kurram joined retaliatory action against Afghan Taliban positions following Pakistani strikes.
According to field reports, Afghan forces captured three Pakistani posts in Goshta, located in Nangarhar province, and two additional posts in Kunar province. A heavy exchange of gunfire was also reported at the Shorko border crossing.
The spokesperson for the Khalid bin Walid 201st Corps stated that clashes involving Afghan border security forces were ongoing in eastern provinces in direct response to Pakistani airstrikes. Afghan units also carried out retaliatory attacks on Pakistani militia posts at several locations in Kunar and Nangarhar.
The renewed violence follows a series of Pakistani airstrikes deep inside eastern Afghanistan, actions that Kabul has condemned as unlawful and destabilising. Pakistan maintains that the strikes targeted militants. However, Afghan officials assert that civilians and infrastructure were also affected.
The Taliban’s Ministry of Defence denounced the airstrikes as a breach of international law and warned of further retaliation.
“Attacks on civilian targets and religious centres are clear evidence of the Pakistani army’s intelligence and security failures, and such repeated aggressions will never conceal their internal shortcomings,” the ministry said in a post on X.
“Pakistan has violated Afghan airspace,” a source told CNN-News18, adding that the Taliban “has the right to retaliate.”
“We will strike back at the perfect time,” the source added.
Meanwhile, Pakistan has stated that it possesses “conclusive evidence” linking recent attacks to militants operating from Afghan territory and has renewed calls for Kabul to take action against them. Afghan authorities have rejected the allegation, arguing that Islamabad’s repeated cross-border strikes and military actions have fuelled the current escalation rather than prevented it.
