Pakistan–Afghanistan Escalation Signals Shift from Proxy Conflict to Open Hostilities

Tensions between Pakistan and Afghanistan turned into open hostilities on Friday after a prolonged period of escalating cross-border violence that is rooted in decades of unresolved disputes and militant activity. The latest phase began when Pakistani forces launched airstrikes against what this France24 report describes as “key military installations of the Afghan Taliban regime,” marking a shift from proxy conflict to direct confrontation. The DW News video below provides expert discussion on the background that led to the current conflict.

The long running border disupte between Pakistan and Afghanistan is escalating. The Pakistani defense minister has spoken of ‘open war’ between the neighbors. Pakistan’s military has released images of early morning airstrikes carried out in Afghanistan. Islamabad says dozens of Afghan Taliban fighters were killed. Pakistan struck Afghanistan’s capital, Kabul, and targets in the Kandahar and Paktia regions. The Taliban says its forces have hit back, sending drones against Pakistani military installations. Pakistan accuses Afghanistan of harboring militants who launch attacks inside its territory.

France24 also reports that Pakistani Defense Minister Khawaja Muhammad Asif framed the action in stark terms, declaring that “now it is open war between us and you,” and also accused Kabul of turning Afghanistan into a hub that “gathered all the terrorists of the world in Afghanistan and began exporting terrorism.” Pakistan justified the escalation by citing a surge of militant attacks that it has linked to actors operating from Afghan territory. Analysts speaking to DW News assessed the shift as “decisive,” noting that when one country attacks another’s armed forces inside its borders, “that’s a war”.

As noted in a November 2025 Small Wars Journal analysis, “Pakistan’s Fight Against the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) and the Limits of Diplomatic Engagements with Afghanistan,” Pakistan’s ongoing fight against the TTP has already pushed bilateral relations into crisis and exposed the border as “volatile” and deeply mistrustful. That earlier assessment from SWJ highlights how the current escalation builds on a persistent insurgency that continues to drive instability between Islamabad and Kabul.

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