Wednesday, 11 March 2026
Wednesday, 11 March 2026
Pakistani air strikes hit 22 Afghan military targets, Pakistan's military spokesperson said on Friday, after heavy fighting between the South Asian neighbours that began overnight.
At least 12 Pakistani soldiers were killed and 274 Taliban officials and militants were killed since Thursday night, military spokesperson Ahmed Sharif Chaudhry told reporters.
Both sides have issued sharply different accounts of what has happened.
The Taliban government confirmed Friday's air strikes, with spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid saying Afghan forces killed 55 Pakistani soldiers, while putting the death toll among Afghan troops at 13.
The Afghan government also claimed to have captured two Pakistani army bases.
“A total of 55 Pakistani soldiers were killed, two bases and 19 posts were captured. These attacks targeted Pakistani military forces along the Durand Line, near the provinces of Paktika, Paktia, Khost, Nangarhar, Kunar, and Nuristan. In these operations, the assigned objectives were achieved as planned, and at midnight, by the order of the Chief of General Staff of the Islamic Emirate, the fighting ceased,” a Taliban statement said.
Afghanistan wants to resolve its latest conflict with Pakistan through dialogue, Afghan Taliban spokesperson Mujahid told Reuters reporters on Friday, amid intense fighting between the neighbours this week.
The strikes were part of a sharp escalation between Pakistan and Afghanistan's Taliban authorities, with the once-close allies also trading cross-border attacks and Pakistan describing the situation as open conflict.
Video verified by Reuters showed thick plumes of black smoke rising above Darulaman, a residential neighbourhood in western Kabul that also houses several government and military compounds, as a blaze engulfed part of the depot and repeated flashes lit up the night sky when ammunition ignited inside.
Fears rise in Afghanistan
Pakistani air strikes hit a weapons depot on the western outskirts of Kabul overnight, triggering hours of secondary explosions that rattled homes across the Afghan capital and left residents fearing further violence.
Residents said the bombardment began shortly after midnight.
"We were asleep when we heard the sound of a plane," said Tamim, a taxi driver who lives near the depot. "It came and dropped two bombs, then flew away again. After that, we heard explosions."
He said the initial blasts were followed by continuous detonations as stored munitions caught fire.
"The ammunition inside the depot kept exploding on its own," he said. "Everyone, in panic, ran down from the second floor of the house."
Tamim said the fire burned until about 6 a.m., when it was brought under control. His family escaped injury, but doors and windows were damaged and glass shattered from the force of the blasts.
"The blaze was very intense. We were extremely scared and even planned to leave the area," he said.
'Just ordinary people'
Danish, a 35-year-old pharmacist who lives about 10 minutes from the depot, said he had been awake following news of rising tensions.
"I couldn't sleep again until morning."
Reuters witnesses elsewhere in Kabul reported hearing loud blasts and the sound of aircraft, followed by ambulance sirens cutting through the night.
Mohammad Ali, 31, who sells mobile electrical accessories, said he was at a guesthouse when a blast around 2 a.m. jolted them awake.
"At first we thought it was an earthquake," he said, but soon realised it was gunfire.
"We are just ordinary people," he added, saying they were more worried about livelihoods and poverty than the war itself.
Each side said it had killed dozens of enemy fighters in clashes that followed months of escalating attacks by militants that the countries accuse one another of harbouring, as well as cross-border skirmishes.
Afghanistan is already gripped by poverty, unemployment and worsening hunger since a collapse in aid deliveries after the Taliban returned to power in 2021 following a two-decade insurgency against the US-backed government.
For many in the capital, the strike revived memories of past conflicts.
Yalda, 35, travelled to Darulaman on Thursday to check on her sister after hearing of the explosion. "If they attack here today, tomorrow they might target our area as well," she said.
"Misery has started again."
