Hamid Karzai, who served as president of Afghanistan from 2002 to 2014, released a statement earlier today responding to Pakistani strikes on Kabul, Kandahar and Paktia.

"The Afghans will defend their beloved homeland with complete unity in all circumstances and will respond to aggression with courage," he wrote on X.

Pakistan "must change its own policy and choose the path of good neighborliness, respect, and civilized relations with Afghanistan", he wrote.

Karzai is one of the few senior Afghan politicians to remain in the country since the Taliban takeover in 2021.

What makes the latest round of Pakistani strikes significant is that they have targeted Taliban government facilities instead of terrorist targets in Afghanistan, Michael Kugelman, a senior fellow for South Asia at the Atlantic Council, told the BBC's Newsday programme.

This means "it's now targeting the regime itself", he said.

Pakistan claims that the Afghan Taliban is harbouring terrorists to stage attacks on Pakistan. While there have been diplomatic steps taken to ease the tensions, they have not led to a lasting solution.

Meanwhile rhetoric from the Taliban suggests it is committed to "staging relentless attacks" on the Pakistani side of the border, he said, adding that this was a "precarious situation" which could lead to an actual conflict.

China is "deeply concerned" about the escalating tensions along the Afghanistan-Pakistan border, its foreign ministry said, calling on both sides to "settle differences and disputes through dialogue and negotiation".

It added that China has been "working for mediation on the conflict via its own channels, and stands ready to continue playing a constructive role for de-escalation and improvement of bilateral ties".

"As a neighbour and a friend, China is deeply concerned over the escalation and is saddened by the casualties caused by the conflict," ministry spokesperson Mao Ning said, adding that "any escalation will inflict harm and losses on both sides".

The statement added that ending hostilties was "in the fundamental interests of the two countries and peoples, and can help keep the region peaceful and stable".

Gunfire and shelling were heard earlier today at a major border crossing between Afghanistan and Pakistan, the news agency AFP reported.

The Torkham crossing, which connects the Pakistani city of Torkham and Afghanistan's Nangarhar province, is a key transport route for people and goods between the two countries.

The land border between the two countries has mostly been closed since border clashes erupted last October, except for the Torkham crossing which is one of the few places that has remained open. Many Afghans have used the crossing to return home from Pakistan, where they have faced mounting pressure and deteriorating living conditions.

A camp housing returnees near the crossing was struck overnight by a mortar shell which wounded seven refugees - one of them with serious injuries - a provincial official told AFP.

An Afghan returnee told AFP he "saw blood" and wounded children and women, while another said everyone fled in a hurry.

Mahfouz Zubaide
News producer

Pakistani strikes have hit a target in Daman district, Kandahar province, the Taliban's spokesperson told the BBC.

There were no casualties, he said.

The Daman district is home to a base for Taliban border guards.

The BBC has been unable to independently verify claims around damages and casualties.

Yama Bariz
Afghan service correspondent in Kabul

The Taliban authorities in Afghanistan say they have carried out retaliatory strikes against Pakistani border posts in the east and south east of the country.

A spokesman for the Taliban government, Zabiullah Mujahid, told the BBC that Afghan forces had destroyed 19 Pakistani border posts and detained a number of Pakistani soldiers.

He also claimed that more than 50 Pakistani troops had been killed.

There has been no independent confirmation of those figures.

Meanwhile, Pakistan claims it has destroyed 27 border posts belonging to the Afghan Taliban and said it had inflicted heavy casualties on Taliban forces.

Image source, Getty Images

Pakistan's air force bombed Afghanistan's capital this morning following months of tit-for-tat fighting close to their long mountainous border. Here's what you need to know.

• Pakistani forces struck Kabul and the provinces of Kandahar and Paktika. We have yet to confirm if there are casualties
• Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif said his country's forces are able to "crush" its foes while the defence minister has declared "open war" on the Afghan Taliban
• The Afghan Taliban "will retaliate if we are attacked, but we won't start clashes at the moment," a Taliban military spokesperson tells the BBC
• UN officials have called for an immediate de-escalation of the fighting while Iran has offered to mediate
• The foreign minister of Pakistan ally Saudi Arabia has met with his Pakistani counterpart to discuss ways to reduce tensions
• The air strikes follow months of hostilities between the two countries our South Asia and Afghanistan correspondent Yogita Limaye writes
• Outgunned by nuclear-armed Pakistan, it is unlikely for the Taliban to fight a conventional war with Pakistan, analysts tell BBC Urdu

Sources are telling the BBC's Afghan service that attacks by the Taliban against Pakistan from the provinces of Kandahar and Helmand have stopped.

Following Pakistani air strikes this morning, retaliatory strikes were launched in these areas, a spokesman for the Taliban government had earlier said.

We have yet to confirm independently if there are casualties.

Yogita Limaye
South Asia & Afghanistan correspondent

This is the latest escalation in violence between Pakistan and Afghanistan after months of hostilities.

The last serious flare up was in October 2025, after which a diplomatic process had begun with Turkey and Qatar attempting to mediate between the two sides.

A fragile ceasefire followed but negotiations failed to reach a broader agreement between the two sides for a complete ceasing of hostilities.

Both sides blamed each other for not engaging seriously with the diplomatic process.

Pakistan accuses Afghanistan’s Taliban government of supporting ‘anti-Pakistan terrorists’ who it blames for carrying out suicide attacks in Pakistan including the recent attack at a mosque in Islamabad. Pakistan says its strikes against Afghanistan have been targeted at militant hideouts not at civilians.

This is a claim disputed by the Taliban government which has repeatedly said the territory of Afghanistan is not being used to threaten the security of any foreign country.

It accuses Pakistan of carrying out unprovoked attacks in which civilians have been killed.

Mahfouz Zubaide
News producer

A resident of Dashti Barchi in Kabul’s District 6, which is near the area reportedly targeted by last night’s Pakistani airstrike, told me that his house shook violently due to an explosion caused by one of the strikes.

“First, we thought it was an earthquake, because there was an earthquake in Kabul a few days ago,” he said. “Then we heard a loud explosion.”

The resident, who is not being named for safety reasons, added that people in Dashti Barchi immediately rushed outside and stayed awake throughout the night. “No-one slept after that. Everyone was afraid."

He said that jets were seen flying over Kabul shortly after the explosion.

“When we saw the jets overhead, we realized they were Pakistani aircraft."

The targeted area, was about 4 to 5 kilometres from his home, he said.

“My wife and my parents were very scared. We were all awake the entire night.

Image source, Getty Images

We're getting more statements from officials in Islamabad, this time from Federal Minister for Information and Broadcasting Attaullah Tarar, who tells PTV that Pakistan was responding to unprovoked aggression by the Afghan Taliban.

“Pakistan’s armed forces have once again demonstrated that any aggression or hostile designs against the country will be met with an iron hand,” he says, confirming Pakistani strikes in Kandahar province, Kabul and Paktika.

Now, the UN Special Rapporteur for Afghanistan, Richard Bennett, is appealing for "calm and respect for international human rights & humanitarian law, in particular the protection of civilians".

"Immediate de-escalation is essential," Bennett says on X.

Similar calls have been made earlier by UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres and UN Human Rights chief Volker Turk.

Pakistan's armed forces says this clip is from attacks in the Afghan capital. The BBC has not been able to independently verify this footage.

How have we got here?published at 05:32 GMT

05:32 GMT

Yogita Limaye
South Asia & Afghanistan correspondent

Pakistan’s leaders have released strong statements on Friday morning with the prime minister Shehbaz Sharif saying his country has the ‘full capability to crush any aggressive ambitions’ and the defence minister Khwaja Asif saying Pakistan was in an ‘open war’ with Afghanistan.

The latest flare up began when the Taliban government declared it had launched a major offensive against Pakistani military posts near the border with Afghanistan on Thursday night. It said it was responding to Pakistani airstrikes earlier in February in which the UN says at least 13 civilians were killed.

Pakistan had said those strikes were targeted at the hideouts of militants who it blamed for carrying out suicide attacks in Pakistani cities.

Now Pakistan has launched a fresh series of airstrikes – this time it's targeted Kabul as well.

While the Taliban government has confirmed the attacks, there is no information so far about what has been hit and if there are any casualties.

Local officials of the Taliban government in Afghanistan have alleged that Pakistani tockets have been fired at a refugee camp in Nangarhar, housing Afghan citizens who had arrived in the country from Pakistan.

The BBC Afghan service quoted the officials as saying that at least nine people were injured - seven women and two men.

The condition of one of those injured is critical, the officials added.

Iran is ready to help "facilitate dialogue" between Pakistan and Afghanistan, its foreign minister Abbas Araghchi has said in a statement on X.

He also urged the two countries to "resolve their differences through good neighbourliness and dialogue".

Iran has previously offered to mediate between the two countries as border tensions were rising.

United Nations Secretary General Antonio Guterres and Human Rights chief Volker Türk have both commented on the unfolding situation.

Guterres urged both nations to adhere strictly to their obligations under international law, with a specific emphasis on international humanitarian law.

Meanwhile, Türk appealed for dialogue between Afghanistan and Pakistan amid border clashes and deadly airstrikes,

Image source, Getty Images

The foreign minister of Saudi Arabia has spoken to his Pakistani counterpart in a phone call, the Saudi foreign ministry has said in a statement.

Saudi foreign minister Faisal bin Farhan Al Saud spoke to Pakistani foreign minister Ishaq Dar about "developments in the region" and "ways to reduce tensions", the Saudi foreign ministry said in a statement posted hours earlier on X.

Ishaq Dar is currently in Saudi Arabia for an official visit.

Afghan Taliban unlikely to fight a conventional war with Pakistanpublished at 04:00 GMT

04:00 GMT

Analysts have told BBC Urdu that it would be unlikely for the Taliban to fight a conventional war with Pakistan.

There's a significant disparity in military capability between Pakistan and the Afghan Taliban.

Pakistan's armed forces, which are nuclear-armed, have consistently been ranked in the world's top 15 in military strength.

The Afghan Taliban, on the other hand, lack the same military resources and face their own economic challenges.

The weapons owned by the Taliban military largely come from three sources: those left by the former Afghan army, those from foreign forces that have withdrawn, and new weapons they obtained from sources including the black market.

Experts say videos of past border clashes suggest the Taliban forces have mostly used light weapons against Pakistani forces.

However, the Taliban have extensive experience in guerrilla warfare, analysts say.

An Afghan security expert has told BBC Urdu that many of the Taliban's encounters with Pakistani forces involve guerrilla tactics like surprise attacks and roadside bombs.

Hafizullah Maroof
BBC Afghan Service

I have spoken to a number of residents and local officials in Kabul, as well as the provinces of Kandahar and Nangarhar.

The situation there seems to be calm now, they told me, though both sides of the border remain on high alert.

"We will retaliate if we are attacked, but we won’t start clashes at the moment," a Taliban military spokesperson tells me.

It's now early morning in Kabul, and residents tell me they no longer hear the sound of jets. The city seems to be calm after earlier air strikes from Pakistan.

There are no reports of casualties so far in the strikes which carried out in Kandahar and Paktia as well.