Pakistan carried out airstrikes in Kabul and two other Afghan provinces early on Friday (February 27, 2026), Afghanistan’s Government spokesman said, hours after Afghanistan launched a cross-border attack on Pakistan in the latest escalation of violence between the volatile neighbours that made a Qatar-mediated ceasefire appear increasingly shaky.

At least three explosions were heard in Kabul, but there was no immediate information on the exact location of the strikes in the Afghan capital, or of any potential casualties. Government spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid said Pakistan also carried out airstrikes in Kandahar to the south and in the southeastern province of Paktia.

Afghanistan said its military launched its attack across the border into Pakistan late Thursday in retaliation for deadly Pakistani airstrikes on Afghan border areas on Sunday (February 22), and claimed to have captured more than a dozen Pakistani Army posts.

Pakistan’s Government, which had described last Sunday’s (February 22) airstrikes as an attack on militants harboured in the area, described Thursday’s (February 26) Afghan attack as unprovoked, and dismissed claims that army posts had been captured.

-AP

The Taliban government spokesman said that Afghan forces had captured more than 15 Pakistani outposts in two hours.

“Dozens of (Pakistani) soldiers have been killed, and we have transferred 10 dead bodies to Kunar and other areas. There are also several wounded and caught alive,” Mr. Mujahid said.

However, a spokesman for Pakistan’s Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif said there were “no Pakistani posts captured or damaged”, adding its forces “inflicted heavy losses” across the border in retaliation.

An Afghan official reported multiple civilians wounded near the Torkham border crossing, at a camp for people returning from Pakistan.

-AFP