Pakistan declares ‘open war’ with Afghan Taliban after morning strikes on Kabul, Kandahar

Pakistan bombed Afghanistan’s cities of Kabul and Kandahar on Friday, hours after Afghan forces attacked Pakistani border troops in what the Taliban government said was retaliation for earlier deadly air strikes.Both militaries said they killed dozens of soldiers in the border violence, which followed multiple Pakistani strikes on Afghanistan and clashes along the frontier in recent months.“Afghan Taliban defence targets were targeted in Kabul, Paktia [province] and Kandahar,” Pakistani Information Minister Attaullah Tarar posted on social media.Pakistan’s defence minister declared an “open war” with Kabul while Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi said the strikes were a “befitting response to the Afghan Taliban’s open aggression”.A Pakistani paramilitary soldier stands guard at the Pakistan-Afghanistan border on Tuesday. Photo: EPAIn the Afghan capital, jets and multiple loud blasts, followed by gunfire, could be heard over a period of more than two hours.