Afghanistan has reported thwarting attempted airstrikes on Bagram Air Base, the former US military installation north of Kabul, as cross-border fighting with Pakistan entered its fourth day. The escalating conflict marks the most severe confrontation between the two neighbours in years, with Pakistan declaring itself in “open war” with Afghanistan.
The intense hostilities have alarmed the international community, particularly given the region’s continued vulnerability to militant groups, including al-Qaeda and the Islamic State, which are reportedly attempting to re-establish their presence.
Pakistan accuses Afghanistan’s Taliban government of harbouring militant factions that launch attacks against its territory, and of fostering alliances with its arch-rival, India. Previous border clashes in October resulted in dozens of casualties among soldiers, civilians, and suspected militants, before a Qatari-mediated ceasefire brought a temporary halt to the fighting. However, subsequent peace talks held in Turkey in November failed to yield a lasting agreement, leading to intermittent exchanges of fire ever since.
On Sunday, the police headquarters of Parwan province, where Bagram is located, said in a statement that several Pakistani military jets had entered Afghan airspace “and attempted to bomb Bagram Air Base” at around 5 a.m. The statement said Afghan forces responded with “anti-aircraft and missile defense systems” and had managed to thwart the attack.
There was no immediate response to the claim from Pakistan.
Map of Bagram airbase:
Bagram was the United States’ largest military base in Afghanistan. It was taken over by the Taliban as they swept across the country and took control in the wake of the chaotic U.S. withdrawal from the country in 2021. Last year, U.S. President Donald Trump suggested he wanted to reestablish a U.S. presence at the base.
The current fighting began when Afghanistan launched a broad cross-border attack Thursday night, saying it was in retaliation for Pakistani airstrikes the previous Sunday.
Pakistan had said its airstrike had targeted the outlawed Pakistani Taliban, or TTP. Afghanistan had said only civilians were killed.
The TTP militant group, which is separate but closely allied with Afghanistan’s ruling Taliban, operates inside Pakistan, where it has been blamed for hundreds of deaths in bombings and other attacks over the years. Pakistan accuses Afghanistan’s Taliban government of providing a safe haven within Afghanistan for the TTP, an accusation Afghanistan denies.
After Thursday’s Afghan attack, Pakistani Defense Minister Khawaja Mohammad Asif declared that “our patience has now run out. Now it is open war between us.”
In the ongoing fighting, each side claims to have killed hundreds of the other side’s forces — and each side puts its own casualties at drastically lower numbers.
Afghan officials said fighting had continued overnight and into Sunday in the border areas.
The police command spokesman for Nangarhar province, Said Tayyeb Hammad, said anti-aircraft missiles were used from the provincial capital of Jalalabad and surrounding areas on Pakistani fighter jets flying overhead Sunday morning.
Defense Ministry spokesman Enayatulah Khowarazmi said Afghan forces had launched counterattacks with snipers across the border from Nangarhar, Paktia, Khost and Kandahar provinces overnight. He claimed two Pakistani drones had been shot down and dozens of Pakistani soldiers had been killed.
Deputy government spokesman Hamdullah Fitrat said Pakistani drone attacks hit civilian homes in Nangarhar province late Saturday night, killing a woman and a child, while a mortar killed another civilian when it hit a home in Paktia province.
There was no immediate response to the claims from Pakistani officials.
