The ongoing tensions between Pakistan and Afghanistan have boiled over into what looks like a full-fledged war. Pakistani Defense Minister Khawaja Muhammad Asif, in a carefully crafted statement, took the Taliban to task for violating "the rights that Islam grants women" (can we guffaw at this point?); he reminded the Taliban that the Pakistani Army will not go away; and, in a final dramatic flourish, decalred that "open war” existed between the two countries.
In a clearly worded post on X, Pakistan's Defense Minister Khawaja Asif has made the following statement:
— South Asia Watch (@MuhammadAli_PhD) February 27, 2026
After NATO forces withdrew, it was expected that peace would prevail in Afghanistan and that the Taliban would focus on the interests of the Afghan people and regional… pic.twitter.com/1btsJMk0Ub
This round of hostilities kicked off on Sunday when Pakistan launched air attacks against “refugee camps” inside Afghanistan. The Pakistanis claim that the strikes targeted Pakistani Taliban, also known as Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), and its affiliates, as well as a group associated with the Islamic State. According to the Afghans, the strikes targeted an Islamic seminary and “multiple civilian homes.” Allegedly, 18 people were killed, including women and children. Up front, we have to note that both sides are inveterate and incorrigible liars whom I would not believe if they told me the sky was blue.
The airstrikes, of course, did not take place in a vacuum. Pakistan has been hit by a string of bomb attacks over the last month targeting military personnel and Shia muslims, religion of peace and all that, right?
Thursday, Afghanistan's Taliban government launched a so-called offensive against Pakistani military bases along the border.
Reportedly footage of the Taliban sending reinforcements toward the Pakistan border following recent Pakistani air force strikes inside Afghanistan that killed 18 people (according to the Taliban anyway....).
— Mrgunsngear (@Mrgunsngear) February 26, 2026
It seems the US military equipment President Biden gave them is still… pic.twitter.com/4ah74wMHJZ
Pakistan quickly responded with another round of air strikes at targets in the Afghan capital, Kabul, and the provinces of Kandahar and Paktika. Allegedly, the airstrikes in Khandahar killed the Supreme Leader of the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan, Hibatullah Akhundzada.
In case you missed it.
— Nervana Mahmoud (@Nervana_1) February 27, 2026
Pakistan and Afghanistan are at war.
A prime example that the concept of “one Muslim nation” ( ummah) is a big fat MYTH.
Pakistan Air Force has officially struck the Afghan Taliban headquarters in Kabul.
Mullah Hibatullah the leader of Afghanistan along… pic.twitter.com/g8MIRA28Zo
Pakistan bombed Taliban government forces in Afghanistan's major cities overnight on February 27, the first time it has directly targeted its former allies, and described the situation as ‘open war,’ raising tensions in a volatile, nuclear-armed region https://t.co/yGqydOWHSZ pic.twitter.com/yqa9WNRi8g
— Reuters (@Reuters) February 27, 2026
Afghanistan has a fraught history with Pakistan dating back to the 1893 Durand Line that demarcated the border between British India and Afghanistan. Afghanistan has never accepted the border, and the Pashtun majority in the contested region identifies with Afghanistan. Many attribute the emergence of the TTP in 2007 as a reaction to Pakistan attempting to use the U.S. punitive expedition into Afghanistan as a means of gaining control of contested borderlands. Since Biden's ignominious withdrawal in 2021, the TTP have had nothing better to do than kill Pakistanis. I've posted on this ongoing war previously in Fighting Erupts Between Pakistan and the Taliban, Proving Karma Does Have a Sense of Humor – RedState.
The Taliban aren't taking this lying down. They are threatening to employ suicide bomber battalions.
— Random Thought (@RNDTHOT) February 27, 2026
They don't seem to be bluffing.
🇵🇰 Suicide attack kills 4 policemen in Pakistan
— Visegrád 24 (@visegrad24) February 27, 2026
A Taliban suicide bomber blew himself up at a police checkpoint in Bhakkar, Punjab, killing 4 officers and injuring 3 civilians on Wednesday pic.twitter.com/rgUOLY6ceC
Saudi Arabia has a mutual defense treaty with Pakistan that was not invoked during the last flare-up, but this time around, it is reported that the Saudis have volunteered aid.
BREAKING: 🇸🇦🇵🇰🇦🇫 Saudi Arabia says it is ready to deploy its Air Force to fight the Afghan Taliban if Pakistan requests it. Saudi Arabia and Pakistan have a defense pact under which an attack on one country is considered an attack on both. pic.twitter.com/ZWa8Vpinby
— War Radar (@War_Radar2) February 27, 2026
And, there is the elephant in the room: Pakistan has nuclear weapons that are tailor-made for hitting targets like those found in Afghanistan. In my view, them nuking parts of Afghanistan has to be seen as a likely outcome if this war escalates.
Back during the Iran-Iraq War of 1980-1986, the world was treated to the spectacle of two detestable regimes ruthlessly slaughtering one another, giving civilization a welcome respite and improving the gene pool. Former U.S. Secretary of State Henry Kissinger is reported to have quipped, "It's a pity they both can't lose." I feel much the same way about this war. Pakistan was complicit in the death of virtually everyone killed in the 20 years of the Afghan War. It armed the Taliban and gave them sanctuary. It obstructed U.S. military operations. Yet, all the while, we had to pretend they were an ally. The Taliban represents an ugly, degraded culture that remains primitive even by seventh-century norms. I really hope some way is found to prove Kissinger wrong.
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