3 months ago
1
Afghanistan thwarted attempted airstrikes connected Bagram Air Base, the erstwhile U.S. subject basal northbound of Kabul, authorities said Sunday (March 1, 2026), portion cross-border warring betwixt Pakistan and Afghanistan stretched into a 4th day.
The warring has been the astir terrible betwixt the neighbors for years, with Pakistan declaring that it’s successful “open war” with Afghanistan. The struggle has alarmed the planetary community, peculiarly arsenic the country is 1 wherever different militant organisations, including al-Qaida and the Islamic State group, inactive person a beingness and person been trying to resurface.
Afghanistan-Pakistan war: Follow LIVE updates connected March 1, 2026
Pakistan accuses Afghanistan’s Taliban authorities of harbouring militant groups that signifier attacks against it and besides of allying with its archrival India.
Border clashes successful October killed dozens of soldiers, civilians and suspected militants until a Qatari-mediated ceasefire ended the aggravated fighting. But respective rounds of bid talks successful Turkiye successful November failed to nutrient a lasting agreement, and the 2 sides person occasionally traded occurrence since then.
On Sunday (March 1, 2026), the constabulary office of Parwan province, wherever Bagram is located, said successful a connection that respective Pakistani subject jets had entered Afghan airspace “and attempted to weaponry Bagram Air Base” astatine astir 5 a.m. The connection said Afghan forces responded with “anti-aircraft and rocket defence systems” and had managed to thwart the attack.
There was nary contiguous effect from Pakistan’s subject oregon authorities regarding Kabul’s assertion of attempted airstrikes connected Bagram oregon the ongoing fighting.
Bagram was the United States’ largest subject basal successful Afghanistan. It was taken implicit by the Taliban arsenic they swept crossed the state and took power successful the aftermath of the chaotic U.S. withdrawal from the state successful 2021. Last year, U.S. President Donald Trump suggested helium wanted to reestablish a U.S. beingness astatine the base.
The existent warring began erstwhile Afghanistan launched a wide cross-border onslaught connected Thursday (February 26, 2026) night, saying it was successful retaliation for Pakistani airstrikes the erstwhile Sunday (February 22, 2026).
Pakistan had said its airstrike had targeted the outlawed Pakistani Taliban, besides known arsenic Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan, oregon TTP. Afghanistan had said lone civilians were killed.
The TTP militant group, which is abstracted but intimately allied with Afghanistan’s ruling Taliban, operates wrong Pakistan, wherever it has been blamed for hundreds of deaths successful bombings and different attacks implicit the years. Pakistan accuses Afghanistan’s Taliban authorities of providing a harmless haven wrong Afghanistan for the TTP, an accusation that Afghanistan denies.
After Thursday’s (February 26, 2026) Afghan attack, Pakistani Defence Minister Khawaja Mohammad Asif declared that “our patience has present tally out. Now it is unfastened warfare betwixt us.”
In the ongoing fighting, each broadside claims to person killed hundreds of the different side’s forces — and some governments enactment their ain casualties astatine drastically little numbers.
Two Pakistani information officials said that Pakistani crushed forces were inactive successful power connected Sunday (March 1, 2026) of a cardinal Afghan station and a 32-square-kilometer country successful the confederate Zhob assemblage adjacent Kandahar province, aft having seized it during warring Friday (February 27, 2026). The captured station and surrounding country stay nether Pakistani control, they added. The officials spoke connected information of anonymity, due to the fact that they weren’t authorised to talk publicly.
In Kabul, the Afghan authorities rejected Pakistan’s claims. Deputy authorities spokesperson Hamdullah Fitrat called the reports “baseless. ”Afghan officials said that warring had continued overnight and into Sunday (March 1, 2026) successful the borderline areas.
The constabulary bid spokesperson for Nangarhar province, Said Tayyeb Hammad, said that anti-aircraft missiles were utilized from the provincial capital, Jalalabad, and surrounding areas connected Pakistani combatant jets flying overhead Sunday (March 1, 2026) morning.
Defence Ministry spokesperson Enayatulah Khowarazmi said that Afghan forces had launched counterattacks with snipers crossed the borderline from Nangarhar, Paktia, Khost and Kandahar provinces overnight. He said that 2 Pakistani drones had been changeable down and dozens of Pakistani soldiers had been killed.
Mr. Fitrat said that Pakistani drone attacks deed civilian homes successful Nangarhar state precocious Saturday (February 28, 2026), sidesplitting a pistillate and a child, portion mortar occurrence killed different civilian erstwhile it deed a location successful Paktia province.
There was nary contiguous effect to the claims from Pakistani officials.
