- Pak PM Shehbaz Sharif said his country's armed forces can "crush" aggressors
- His remarks came hours after Islamabad struck targets inside Afghanistan's major cities overnight
- Pak bombed Afghanistan after Afghan forces attacked Pakistani border troops on Thursday night
Pakistan's Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif said on Friday his country's armed forces can "crush" aggressors, hours after Islamabad struck targets inside Afghanistan's major cities overnight.
"Our forces have the full capability to crush any aggressive ambitions," Sharif said, according to the Pakistani government's X account.
"The entire nation stands shoulder to shoulder with the Pakistan armed forces," he said.
Pakistan bombed Afghanistan's Kabul and Kandahar after Afghan forces attacked Pakistani border troops on Thursday night.
Both countries said they killed dozens of soldiers in the latest round of border violence, which followed multiple Pakistani strikes on Afghanistan and clashes along the frontier in recent months.
Pak Declares "Open War"
Pakistan's defence minister Khawaja Asif declared an "open war" with the Taliban government
"Our patience has reached its limit. Now it is open war between us and you," he posted on X.
Pakistani government spokesperson Mosharraf Zaidi said 133 Afghan Taliban fighters were killed and more than 200 wounded, with 27 posts destroyed and nine captured.
Taliban spokesperson Zabihullah Mujahid said 55 Pakistani soldiers were killed and 19 posts seized, while eight Taliban fighters were killed, 11 wounded, and 13 civilians injured in Nangarhar.
The new escalation follows Pakistani strikes on Nangarhar and Paktika provinces overnight into Sunday, which the UN mission in Afghanistan said killed at least 13 civilians.
Pakistan-Afghanistan Conflict
Islamabad accuses Afghanistan of failing to act against groups like Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) that carry out attacks in Pakistan.
The Taliban government denies the claim.
The latest strikes mark the most serious escalation between Pakistan and Afghanistan in recent months, threatening a fragile ceasefire along the 2,600-km frontier.
