The United States, on 27 February (local time), extended its support to Pakistan after it bombed neighboring Afghanistan and declared an ‘open war’ against its Taliban government following clashes along the border.
Pakistan launched air strikes on Afghan cities on Friday morning. The Pakistani strikes came hours after it said Afghanistan launched a cross-border attack in the latest escalation of violence between the neighboring countries along their porous frontier.
“We continue to monitor the situation closely and expressed support for Pakistan’s right to defend itself against Taliban attacks,” Allison Hooker, the under secretary of state for political affairs, wrote on X after talks with a Pakistani counterpart.
She said she expressed to Foreign Secretary Amna Baloch, Pakistan’s senior-most career diplomat, US “condolences for lives lost in the recent conflict between Pakistan and the Taliban.”
Hooker’s brief statement did not call for an end to the fighting. Unlike the US, the UK earlier called for “de-escalation,” China called for a ceasefire, and Iran offered to mediate.
EU calls for immediate de-escalation
Even the European Commission (EU) called on all actors for immediate de-escalation while urging Afghan authorities to take effective action against all terrorist groups.
“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,” read a statement by the High Representative on behalf of the EU on the escalation between Afghanistan and Pakistan.
Pakistan bombarded Afghanistan’s major cities in its most significant attacks since the Taliban returned to power in 2021 with the US withdrawal. Afghanistan said Pakistan carried out airstrikes in Kabul and Kandahar to the south and in the southeastern province of Paktia.
Pakistan’s Defense Minister, Khawaja Asif, acknowledged the Pakistan strikes and declared an ‘open war’ on the Taliban government in Afghanistan.
The Afghanistan war has soured the US relationship with Pakistan, with former president Joe Biden wanting little to do with Islamabad due to past support for the Taliban as the United States propped up a pro-Western government.
I think Pakistan is doing terrifically well: Trump
President Donald Trump has shifted course and forged close ties with Pakistan, which has gone out of its way to praise him for his mediation during a conflict with India last year and said he deserved the Nobel Peace Prize.
Trump, asked about the strikes on Afghanistan earlier Friday, hailed Pakistan’s powerful military chief Field Marshal Asim Munir and Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif.
“You have a great prime minister, you have a great general there, you have a great leader. I think two of the people that I really respect a lot,” Trump told reporters.
“I think Pakistan is doing terrifically well,” he said.
Why is Pakistan attacking Afghanistan?
Tension has been high between Afghanistan and Pakistan, the two neighbours, for months, with deadly border clashes in October killing dozens of soldiers, civilians and suspected militants.
A Qatari-mediated ceasefire was agreed on between the two sites on October 19 last year. The ceasefire has largely held, but the two sides have still occasionally traded fire across the border. Several rounds of peace talks in November failed to produce a formal agreement.
On Friday, Afghanistan’s Taliban government said it was willing to negotiate after Pakistan bombed their forces in major cities and said the allies-turned-foes were in “open war.”
“The Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan has always tried to resolve issues through dialogue, and now we also want to resolve this matter through dialogue,” Taliban spokesperson Zabihullah Mujahid.
Mujahid said Pakistani strikes hit parts of Kabul, Kandahar and Paktia on Thursday night, and on Paktia, Paktika, Khost and Laghman on Friday. That followed Afghan drone strikes that began late on Thursday on Pakistani military positions and installations in northwest Pakistan along their shared border.
Pakistani officials said the country’s strikes killed 274 Taliban officials and militants, while Afghanistan said it killed 55 Pakistani soldiers – figures which Reuters was unable to verify.
Pakistan confirmed that 12 of its own soldiers were killed, and Afghanistan said it had lost 13 Taliban fighters.
In New York, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres was “deeply concerned by the escalation of violence” between Afghanistan and Pakistan and the impact that is having on civilian populations, his spokesperson Stephane Dujarric said.
We continue to monitor the situation closely and expressed support for Pakistan’s right to defend itself against Taliban attacks.
“He calls for an immediate cessation of hostilities, and he reiterates his call on the parties to resolve any differences through diplomacy,” Dujarric said.
