Pakistan carried out airstrikes on Afghanistan’s two largest cities on Friday, including the capital, Kabul, according to officials from both countries, escalating months of border tensions and skirmishes into open conflict.
The strikes also targeted the southern city of Kandahar — where the Taliban’s supreme leader, Sheikh Haibatullah Akhundzada, resides — as well as the eastern border province of Paktia.
A spokesperson for the Taliban government, Zabiullah Mujahid, confirmed the locations of the strikes, saying: “Pakistan carried out airstrikes on Afghanistan’s two largest cities on Friday, including the capital, Kabul.”
The bombardment came just hours after Afghan troops attacked Pakistani border positions, officials from both sides said.
According to the officials, the Afghan assaults were themselves carried out in retaliation for Pakistani strikes earlier in the week, highlighting the rapid escalation of hostilities between the neighbouring countries.
Authorities in both Pakistan and Afghanistan have yet to confirm the number of casualties from the latest exchange of attacks. International media reports, including those by The New York Times, said the death toll in either country could not immediately be verified.
Boluwatife Enome
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