Image Credit: – / Contributor / Getty
Pakistan and Afghanistan exchanged military strikes along their border Friday morning in a conflict that began to intensify in October.
Blasts rocked the Afghani capital, Kabul, as well as several other regions as Islamabad launched Operation Ghazab Lil Haq (“Wrath of Justice”) following Afghanistan carrying out attacks on Pakistani military positions hours earlier which killed two Pakistani soldiers and wounded three others.
Mosharraf Zaidi, spokesman for the Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, said that Islamabad killed dozens of Afghan fighters and destroyed several of their military posts and armored vehicles as part of a retaliatory response.
Afghanistan tells a different story, however.
Afghan authorities said their initial attack was retaliation for Pakistani air raids last week. The Afghan military announced it captured more than a dozen Pakistani army posts and inflicted heavy casualties across several border provinces.
Pakistani officials said Afghanistan’s attack was unprovoked, denied losing any positions and accused Afghanistan of targeting civilians.
Image credit: TOPSHOT – Taliban security personnel stand guard near the Torkham border crossing between Afghanistan and Pakistan in the Nangarhar province on February 27, 2026. Pakistan bombed major cities in Afghanistan including the capital Kabul on February 27, with Islamabad’s defence minister declaring the neighbours at “open war” following months of tit-for-tat clashes. AFP journalists in Kabul and Kandahar heard blasts and jets overhead, as Pakistan launched air strikes on the Afghan capital and southern power base of the Taliban authorities. (Photo by Aimal Zahir / AFP via Getty Images)
The Taliban took to Western social media to announce their discontentment with their fellow Islamic neighbor.
“The cowardly Pakistani military has carried out airstrikes in certain areas of Kabul, Kandahar, and Paktia; fortunately, there have been no reported casualties,” Taliban government spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid said.
The cowardly Pakistani military has carried out airstrikes in certain areas of Kabul, Kandahar, and Paktia; fortunately, there have been no reported casualties.— Zabihullah (..ذبـــــیح الله م ) (@Zabehulah_M33) February 26, 2026
Image credit: Taliban security personnel keep watch near the Durand Line in Gurbuz district of Khost province on February 27, 2026 following overnight cross-border fighting between Pakistan and Afghanistan. Clashes near the key Torkham border crossing between Afghanistan and Pakistan resumed on February 27, AFP journalists said, as the neighbours engaged in deadly fighting. Violence overnight hit a camp for Afghans who had just crossed from Pakistan, with several people wounded. (Photo by AFP via Getty Images)
Numerous videos of Friday’s strikes were seen on social media:
🚨Operation Ghazab Lil Haq / Update#Kabul, #Afghanistan 3 AM, 27th February 2026#آپریشن_غضب_للحق #OperationGhazabLilHaqq pic.twitter.com/TZmxccaJLn— PTV News (@PTVNewsOfficial) February 26, 2026
Breaking news: The cowardly Pakistani military has carried out airstrikes in certain areas of Kabul, Kandahar, and Paktia; fortunately, there have been no reported casualties. -Zabiullah Mujihid#PakistanAirForce #AfghanTaliban #War pic.twitter.com/PyPTBglgcL— Border Update🚦 (@BorderUpdate_) February 26, 2026
🇵🇰❌🇦🇫 Afghan Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid:
The cowardly Pakistani military has carried out airstrikes in certain areas of Kabul, Kandahar, and Paktia; fortunately, there have been no reported casualties. pic.twitter.com/Y7NAAhlxrY— TRISHUL (@TrishulxIN) February 26, 2026
🚨Operation Ghazab Lil Haq / Update#Kabul, #Afghanistan 3 AM, 27th February 2026#آپریشن_غضب_للحق#OperationGhazabLilHaqq pic.twitter.com/Mx82Ipheas— PTV News (@PTVNewsOfficial) February 26, 2026
Very Big Hit ⚠️⚠️⚠️
PAF have very precisely hit the Taliban military base formally known as Camp Phoenix now used as Depot where they have stored all US military leftover including arms and ammunition, artillery, transport vehicles, and backbone for Kabul,
this is very major… pic.twitter.com/azwDbEY72c— Ciphar 1337 (@Callsign_Ciphar) February 26, 2026
Video: Afghan forces capture and set fire to a post of Pakistan’s military regime across the Durand Line in Khost.#TOLOnews_English pic.twitter.com/8zFRTJfJJ8— TOLOnews English (@TOLONewsEnglish) February 26, 2026
خوست کې هم د پاکستاني رژیم څلور پوستې نیول شوې دي
د خوست په علیشرو او ځاځي میدان ولسوالیو کې هم د پاکستاني رژیم څلور پوستې نیول شوي
د خوست ولایت ویاند، مستغفر ګربز ویلي، په علیشیرو او ځاځي میدان ولسوالیو کې د روانو عملیاتو کې د افغان ځواکونو له لوري تر دې دمه څلور پوستې نیول… pic.twitter.com/ooHShfz9Gs— TOLOnews (@TOLOnews) February 26, 2026
Afghanistan has been ruled by the jihadi Taliban since President-via-autopen Joe Biden pulled U.S. forces out in a botched 2021 withdrawal.
Pakistan is a China-aligned nuclear power, operating not just nuclear reactors but possessing nuclear weapons as well.
The atomic abilities of Pakistan are particularly notable as the U.S. is currently in negotiations with Iran in hopes of a new-Iran nuclear deal – a treaty which will curb Tehran’s nuclear abilities. While Iran has denied interest in nuclear weapons, it maintains its ambition for nuclear energy.
Image credit: A Taliban security personnel keeps watch near the Durand Line in Gurbuz district of Khost province on February 27, 2026 following overnight cross-border fighting between Pakistan and Afghanistan. Clashes near the key Torkham border crossing between Afghanistan and Pakistan resumed on February 27, AFP journalists said, as the neighbours engaged in deadly fighting. Violence overnight hit a camp for Afghans who had just crossed from Pakistan, with several people wounded. (Photo by AFP via Getty Images)
