Sulaiman Irfan was asleep when loud explosions and the roar of fighter jets jolted him awake in Kandahar, Afghanistan’s second-largest city.
It was one of several areas hit in overnight strikes by Pakistan’s military as clashes between the two neighbours escalated.
“The explosions that targeted the airport area of Kandahar woke us up, and then we heard fighter jets flying overhead,” Mr Irfan, 35, who runs a pharmacy in the city, told The National.
The strikes, which also hit the capital Kabul, eastern Paktia province and other areas, marked the latest round of tit-for-tat violence after Taliban forces launched on Pakistani military installations late on Thursday following an earlier aerial bombing campaign by Islamabad inside Afghanistan this week that the Taliban said killed several civilians.
Relations between the two countries have steadily worsened since the Taliban returned to power in 2021, with Islamabad accusing Kabul of harbouring militants hostile to Pakistan, particularly the Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), which has waged a long insurgency against the Pakistani state – a charge Afghan authorities deny.
Mr Irfan said border areas in the province remained tense, with residents fleeing some districts as both sides exchanged heavy artillery fire along the Durand Line, the highly contested border, and added that Taliban authorities had warned people not to post videos or images of the clashes on social media.
Mohammad, who works for the local government, noticed unusual aerial activity over Kandahar after midnight. "We heard the sound of a jet aircraft, followed shortly by heavy weapons fire directed toward the air."
In Kabul, 60-year-old Mariam said she was waking up to prepare suhoor when she heard the first explosion. "It was very close by and woke up everyone else. The children began to panic and cry. It went on for a long time."
Pakistan’s Defence Minister Khawaja Asif said Islamabad’s “patience had run out”, describing the situation as “open war”, after Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid confirmed that Pakistani forces had carried out air strikes in parts of Kabul, Kandahar and Paktia while maintaining that the Taliban government wanted dialogue.
Both sides reported heavy casualties, with the Taliban saying dozens of Pakistani soldiers were killed in cross-border fire, while Islamabad said scores of Taliban fighters died and others were wounded.
Islamabad maintains its air strikes targeted militant hideouts in Afghanistan, specifically those of the TTP, which it blames for a recent suicide bombing at a Shia mosque in Islamabad that killed more than 30 people.
The latest escalation follows a serious flare-up in October 2025, when days of cross-border strikes saw both sides exchange fire and Pakistan launch air raids inside Afghanistan. Talks mediated by Qatar and Turkey in Doha and Istanbul produced a fragile ceasefire, but the truce did not hold.
Clashes have continued in recent years, particularly after Islamabad began fencing the frontier, and Pakistan has accused Kabul of failing to curb TTP activity, saying cross-border attacks have increased despite initial hopes that the Afghan Taliban would rein in the group because of their ideological and historical links.
Sleepless night
In 2025, the TTP carried out 482 attacks across Pakistan, resulting in 558 deaths, the highest level of violence since 2011, according to the Global Terrorism Index.
In Pakistan’s border town of Landi Kotal, Haji Dadeen Shinwari said residents endured a sleepless night as explosions continued until morning prayers.
“We haven’t slept even for a bit and ate our suhoor amid the thuds of bombs and gunfire,” Mr Shinwari, who runs a restaurant in the town, told The National, adding that the exchange subsided early in the morning and had remained peaceful since.
In Chaman, near the Spin Boldak crossing, doctor Tariq Ahmad said that the area had remained calm so far but warned the crisis could spread if it was not resolved, noting that there had been heavy clashes in October but that there was peace for now.
Taliban said its forces launched ground attacks along sections of the porous 1,600-mile border, targeting towns across Pakistan’s Khyber Pakhtunkhwa region, which Kabul said was in retaliation for Pakistani air strikes over the weekend that it claimed killed at least 18 people.
Islamabad said its forces shot down several armed drones launched by the Taliban forces.
Kabul-based political analyst Sayed Haroon Hashimi said Pakistan had “created such an environment for itself as well as for the Afghan people” over decades by ignoring warnings not to support militant groups, adding that the fallout was now threatening Pakistan’s own security.
While both governments publicly support diplomacy, Mr Hashimi said military action appeared to be taking precedence, warning that “at the moment, instead of dialogue, the two countries are resorting to fighting to settle the matter.”
Zahid Hussain, an Islamabad-based political analyst, described the situation as “very serious”, calling it the most significant confrontation yet between the two countries.
He explained that the crisis has deep roots, noting that the TTP pledged allegiance to the Afghan Taliban in 2007 and remains ideologically aligned.
“In many ways, they see each other as brothers,” he said, adding that divisions within the Taliban and fears of pushing TTP fighters towards ISIS-K have complicated Kabul’s response.
In Kabul, many fear a prolonged war.
Shakir, a 38-year-old resident, said the Pakistani jets were flying over Kabul for a while. "We are on high alert if there is any attack again, we will have to leave our house and move to a safe place."
