‘Open war’: fighting has intensified on the Afghanistan-Pakistan border

Fighting on the Afghanistan-Pakistan border has intensified. One Pakistani minister has described it as a state of “open war”. And Pakistan has hit the Afghan capital Kabul with airstrikes.

Afghan forces launched attacks across the British-created Durand line on 26 February. And Pakistan has called the Taliban regime — which replaced the US-led occupation in 2021 — illegitimate and accused it of harbouring militants.

Information Minister Attaullah Tarar said on 27 February:

Afghan soil is not being used; but, the Afghan Taliban regime is fully aligned with these terrorists and is completely backing these terrorists.

Al Jazeera reported on 27 February:

Pakistan launched air strikes on Afghanistan’s capital, Kabul, as well as on Kandahar and Paktia, early on Friday. The attacks targeted Taliban military installations as Islamabad declared “open war” on the group’s government, in the most serious military confrontation between the two neighbours in years.

One Kabul resident described her terror:

Then we heard gunfire. When we looked out of our apartment window, we saw bullet-like flames going up in the sky.

Al Jazeera said the airstrikes:

came hours after Afghan forces launched coordinated cross-border attacks on Pakistani military positions in six border provinces late on Thursday. Kabul claimed 55 Pakistani soldiers were killed and 19 outposts captured.

Border war

Border fighting broke out in October 2025. A subsequent Turkey and Qatar-brokered ceasefire has now broken down.

The origins of the fighting are complicated. Ahram Online reported:

Islamabad argues that the authorities in Kabul, led by the Taliban, have failed to curb the activities of Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan, a separate but ideologically aligned group that has intensified attacks inside Pakistan since 2021.

The Taliban deny this is the case. Kabul-based political analyst Obaidullah Baheer said:

Pakistan claimed that it was doing that in response to TTP attacks based on the bogus claim that the Taliban are supporting the TTP, an insurgent group operating within Pakistan.

Drop Site News posted a timeline of the breakdown in diplomatic relations since January 2026:

Lead-up: January – Mid-February 2026

Early January: Pakistan warns that Afghanistan is becoming a hub for foreign militants.

February 6: A suicide bombing at a Shia mosque in Islamabad kills 31–36 worshippers. The attack is claimed by ISKP, but Pakistan blames the Afghan…

— Drop Site (@DropSiteNews) February 27, 2026

The Pakistan has also banned personal drones after Afghan forces used unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) in their attack:

The ban is effective nationwide immediately and will remain in place until further directives are issued. All provincial governments and chief secretaries have been asked to ensure strict enforcement of the directive.

Vast US arsenal

A vast arsenal of US military equipment and weaponry was left behind in 2021. Those weapons are now fuelling the war. As the Canary reported on 4 February:

those weapons have flooded neighbouring Pakistan

The Foundation for Economic Education broke down some of the numbers involved. They said the giant arsenal included:

includes up to 22,174 Humvee vehicles, nearly 1,000 armored vehicles, 64,363 machine guns, and 42,000 pick-up trucks and SUVs.

There were mind-boggling amounts of small arms — and even artillery:

the list of allegedly abandoned weaponry includes up to 358,530 assault rifles, 126,295 pistols, and nearly 200 artillery units.

CNN reported that the border region holds vast quantities of copper and other minerals and metals which the US craves:

Pakistan says there is much more wealth beneath its soil –– an estimated $8 trillion in copper, lithium, cobalt, gold, antimony and other critical minerals.

This reality has:

oiled an unlikely friendship with US President Donald Trump, who has put mineral acquisition at the heart of US foreign policy

Pakistan and Afghanistan’s colonial underpinnings

The colonial nature of the conflict zone can’t be ignored either. National Geographic describes the Durand Line as:

part of a long history of colonizing countries establishing borders that serve their own political purposes while ignoring the cultures and ethnicities of the people living there.

As Ahram Online explained:

The roots of the crisis trace back to 1893, when British diplomat Sir Mortimer Durand signed an agreement with Afghan ruler Abdur Rahman Khan to demarcate a frontier between British India and Afghanistan. That line split Pashtun tribal lands between two political entities.

After independence in 1947, Pakistan:

inherited the Durand Line as an international boundary under the principle of state succession. Successive Afghan governments, however, avoided formally recognizing it as a permanent border. The dispute has simmered for decades, occasionally flaring but rarely disappearing.

The neighbours view the border very differently:

Pakistan views the border as legally settled and central to its territorial integrity. Afghanistan’s position has historically been more ambiguous, shaped by ethnic ties, nationalist sentiment, and resistance to what many Afghans see as a colonial imposition.

This explosive combination of competing territorial visions and competition for vast mineral resources is compounded by colonial history and the presence on both sides of the border of vast arsenals of lost American weapons. And ordinary people of the region aren’t without agency, yet to some degree they remain hostage to imperialisms both old and new.

Featured image via the Canary

By Joe Glenton

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