Pakistan says at 'open war' with Afghanistan after strikes

The European Union's foreign policy chief, Kaja Kallas, on Saturday ‌called ⁠for ⁠Afghanistan and Pakistan to de-escalate and engage in dialogue after both nations launched strikes overnight into Friday.

"The ‌EU reiterates that ‌Afghan territory ​must not be used to threaten or attack ​other countries and calls on ⁠the ​Afghan de facto ​authorities to take ​effective action ‌against all terrorist groups operating ​in ⁠or from Afghanistan," Kallas said ⁠in ​a statement.

The US ‌State ⁠Department said it ​supported ​Pakistan's "right ‌to defend itself" against ‌attacks from ‌Afghanistan's ​Taliban rulers after Islamabad ​expressed earlier ⁠in ​the ​day ​that Pakistan ‌and Afghanistan ​were ⁠in "open war."

Pakistan and Afghanistan engaged in their fiercest clashes in years on Friday, with both countries having carried out cross-border strikes.

Pakistan's military said it carried out strikes at military installations in Kabul and other border provinces.

Afghanistan launched an attack on Pakistan late Thursday, saying it was in retaliation for deadly Pakistani airstrikes on Afghan border areas over the weekend. 

UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres added his voice to those calling for a ceasefire between Pakistan and Afghanistan on Friday.

Guterres "is deeply concerned by the escalation of violence we're seeing between Afghanistan and Pakistan, and the impact that violence is having on civilian populations," his spokesperson Stephane Dujarric said.

"He calls for an immediate cessation of hostilities, and he reiterates his call on the parties to resolve any differences through diplomacy," Dujarric added.

The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) president called for "restraint and de-escalation" of the conflict between Afghanistan and Pakistan.

ICRC President Mirjana Spoljaric said civilians must be protected and access to health care guaranteed.

"We are witnessing a profound escalation of hostilities between Afghanistan and Pakistan," Spoljaric said in a statement.

She said the violence harmed people who "already endured decades of conflict, displacement and loss."

The worst outbreak of fighting in decades comes as Pakistan accuses the Taliban of harboring militant groups. Without a clear path towards reconciliation, the threat of protracted violence looms.

Read more about how the conflict between Afghanistan and Pakistan started and why it expanded this week in this article from Haroon Janjua: Is Afghanistan-Pakistan conflict the 'new normal?'

Michael Semple of the Institute for Global Peace, Security and Justice at Queen's University in Belfast told DW the renewed fighting between Pakistan and Afghanistan represents "a very serious escalation."

"It comes on the back of the continuing insurgency inside Pakistan, which they obviously blame on the Afghan Taliban," he said. 

"When the [Pakistani] defense minister says, 'We're in effect in a state of war,' it's accurate," Semple added. 

"The Afghan Taliban have essentially been spoiling for this fight," Semple told DW. " To me, it seems absolutely clear that the Afghan Taliban have no intention of backing down."

Asked how the two countries' militaries compared, he said: "They each have the ability to do a lot of damage to the other. It's hard to say that either of them has the decisive advantage which would allow them to end a war or score a victory over the other.

"If this escalates, it's difficult to see how it de-escalates because neither side can actually win," Semple concluded. 

Claim: In a video shared on X, a user claimed that Afghan defense forces shot down a US-made F‑16 fighter jet. The video shows a burning plane with debris and fire. The user wrote: "This is a Pakistani military F‑16, American-made, that Afghan defensive forces have shot down." The video has more than 1.2 million views.

DW Fact check: Fake 

There are visible discrepancies between the jet shown in the video and real F‑16 fighter jets. The size and color do not match photos of authentic F‑16 jets. A structural difference is visible at the bottom, near the exhaust. The viral video also shows a serial number, "85510," on the tail. Our open-source research found that the Pakistan Air Force has no F‑16 with this number.

In the viral video, the same number appears on the aircraft's body, whereas original F‑16s do not have serial numbers painted on their bodies. It looks like an old video has been manipulated. An AI-detection tool registered parts of the video as suspicious. 

The F‑16 Fighting Falcon is one of the most advanced and capable combat aircraft in the Pakistan Air Force and a key element of its air power. In December 2025, the Trump administration confirmed that it was supporting Pakistan in modernizing these jets through a defense sale worth about $686 million (€581 million). Pakistan is believed to operate between 70 and 80 F‑16 jets.

Another image allegedly showing a downed Pakistani F‑16 jet has been circulating online since May 2025 and is unrelated to the current Pakistan-Afghanistan tensions.

Saudi Arabia and Qatar are working in tandem to "de-escalate" the conflict currently raging between Afghanistan and Pakistan, according to a source cited by France's AFP news agency.

"Saudi Arabia, in coordination with Qatar, is making efforts to reduce tensions between Pakistan and Afghanistan," said the source, who spoke with AFP anonymously in order to discuss the sensitive matter.

Talks took place between Qatari and Afghan authorities Friday as well as between Saudi and Pakistani diplomats.

"Riyadh and Doha have been in contact at the highest levels with both sides, and we hope the confrontation will end as soon as possible," AFP's source said.

Qatar and Turkey brokered a previous temporary ceasefire between the neighbors in October, but it has so far failed to deliver a lasting peace.

Qatar and the Taliban have ties going back at least to 2013, when, with the blessing of then US President Barack Obama, they invited the Afghans to open a diplomatic and political post in Doha.

Saudi Arabia maintains close military ties with Pakistan, signing a mutual defense agreement with the nuclear-armed nation last year. 

Afghanistan's Taliban government on Friday said it wants to engage in dialogue to resolve its conflict with neighboring Pakistan.

"We have repeatedly emphasized a peaceful solution and still want the problem to be resolved through dialogue," Taliban government spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid said during a press conference.

Mujahid's remarks, delivered in the southern Afghan city of Kandahar, came as Pakistan continued air operations. 

"Still, right now," claimed Mujahid, "Pakistani planes, reconnaissance aircraft, are flying over Afghanistan's airspace."

Pakistan says its military operations are moving ahead under the direction of Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif. 

The military on Friday said its airstrikes had targeted 22 Afghan military installations.

At least ‌12 ​Pakistani soldiers have been killed since Thursday night, according to Pakistan's military, which also claimed to have killed 274 Taliban officials and militants during that time.

Pakistan has launched airstrikes against cities in Afghanistan, with the defense minister speaking of 'open war' between the neighbors. The Pakistani military released images of strikes it conducted in the Afghan capital, Kabul. Sources say the operation also included ground assaults on Taliban targets. Both sides have conducted attacks and reported a high number of casualties.

The latest flare‑up was sparked by what Islamabad described as an Afghan cross‑border attack in the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa border region. Tensions have long been high along the frontier, with Pakistan accusing Afghanistan of harboring militants who launch attacks inside its territory.

Pakistan once hoped to have a friendly neighbor in Afghanistan. But it has been fighting the Taliban government it once backed.

And a shaky ceasefire between the sides is being complicated by another Taliban grouping.

As fresh clashes between Afghanistan and Pakistan fuel regional tensions, DW's factchecking team has been tracking several cases of online disinformation from both countries. Here's one example:

Claim: "A drone has struck a nuclear energy center in Islamabad," according to a post on X (archived here) called "Islamabad Post" that looks like a genuine media account.

The post, which has been viewed over 300,000 times, is accompanied by an image of a nuclear explosion showing a mushroom cloud explosion. The post does not specify which nuclear energy center may have been affected.

DW Fact check: False 

By carrying out a reverse-image search of the explosion, the picture can be tracked back to iStock, a provider of stock images by Getty Images. It was uploaded to iStock in 2018, so before the current conflict between Afghanistan and Pakistan. 

Moreover, the claim of a major nuclear explosion in Islamabad is not supported by major, credible media outlets.

The claim's source is also suspicious: the Islamabad Post X account portrays itself as "the voice of the region" and is verified. The account, however, only has roughly 7,000 followers. It presents a mix of news items and opinions, and has only been around since last year. Its posts are also not linked to a website where further information like sources can be gathered.

Russia— which has some leverage in both nations — called on Pakistan and Afghanistan to immediately cease the ​cross-border ​attacks ‌and resolve their ‌differences ‌through diplomatic ​means, the country's state-owned RIA ​news ⁠agency reported ​on ​Friday.

Moscow also said it was ready to mediate if invited by both sides.

"Of course, ​the direct military clashes that ​have ‌taken place do not bode well. Therefore we hope that they will cease as soon as ‌possible... Like everyone else, we are ‌closely monitoring ​this situation," Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters.

Peskov confirmed that Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz ​Sharif would visit Russia soon, without providing a date.

Russian Foreign Ministry ​spokeswoman Maria Zakharova also expressed concern amid the escalating tensions.

"We call on our friends Afghanistan and Pakistan ​to abandon this ⁠dangerous confrontation and return to the negotiating table to resolve ⁠all ​differences through political and diplomatic means," she wrote on Telegram.

Pakistan has launched airstrikes against cities in Afghanistan, with the defense minister speaking of "open war" between the neighbors. The Pakistani military released images of strikes it carried out in the Afghan capital, Kabul.

Sources say the operation also included ground assaults on Taliban targets. Both sides have conducted attacks and reported a high number of casualties.

The latest flare‑up was sparked by what Pakistan described as an Afghan cross‑border attack in the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa border region.

Tensions have long been high along the frontier, with Pakistan accusing Afghanistan of harboring militants who launch attacks inside its territory.