What to know about the recent conflict between Afghanistan and Pakistan

Islamabad — Defense Minister Khawaja Mohammad Asif said on Friday that Pakistan was at “open war” with Afghanistan, as fighting between the two uneasy neighbors escalated into the most serious armed conflict since a Qatari-brokered ceasefire in October.

The two countries share a long, complicated history dating back to the creation of Pakistan in 1947. Bound by traditional social, ethnic and economic ties, relations are however volatile and often descend into armed conflict.

In the past few months, the two have clashed occasionally along their jagged, porous border as tensions have escalated. The latest confrontation is the most serious.

Here are some important things to know about the two countries’ relations and why they are at loggerheads.

Afghanistan launched a massive cross-border attack on Pakistan across six provinces on Thursday night, saying it was in retaliation for Pakistan’s air strikes on Afghanistan on Sunday. Pakistan said those airstrikes targeted and killed dozens of militants in Afghanistan, but said only civilians, including women and children, were killed in Kabul.

In response, Pakistan launched airstrikes on the Afghan capital and two other areas, Kandahar and Paktia, early on Friday. The border conflict which had stopped by then started again and continued on Friday.

Pakistan has seen a sharp rise in extremist violence within the country in recent years, including suicide bombings and coordinated attacks targeting security forces. Pakistani officials blame the Pakistani Taliban, known as Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan, or TTP, for many of the attacks and accuse Afghanistan of providing a safe haven for the group inside Afghanistan.

Kabul rejects the allegations and says it will not allow anyone to use Afghan soil to attack any country, including Pakistan.

Formed in 2007, the TTP brought together various outlaw groups who agreed to work together against Pakistan and support the Afghan Taliban, who were fighting US and NATO forces at the time. The United Nations and the United States have designated it as a terrorist organization.

The group wants stricter enforcement of Islamic laws, the release of its members imprisoned in Pakistan and the reduction of Pakistan’s military presence in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, a province bordering Afghanistan.

Although separate, the group is closely allied with the Afghan Taliban, who now run Afghanistan. Many of its leaders and fighters are believed to have taken refuge in Afghanistan after the Taliban return to power in 2021, further straining relations.

In 2022, Afghanistan brokered a short-lived ceasefire between the TTP and Pakistan. The ceasefire collapsed when the TTP accused the Pakistan Army of violating the agreement.

Pakistan is one of only three countries, along with Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, to recognize the first Taliban government since seizing power in 1996. However, September. 11, 2001, after the attacks in the United States, Islamabad aligned itself with Washington in the war of militants in Afghanistan.

Much of the tension has centered on the two countries’ 2,611-kilometer (1,622-mile) border, known as the Durand Line. Named after British diplomat Mortimer Durand and established in 1893, the line cuts through the heart of the tribal areas of the Pashtun, Afghanistan’s largest ethnic group and the home of the Afghan Taliban.

Although this line is internationally recognized as Pakistan’s western border, Afghanistan does not recognize it.

Both countries are often accused of turning a blind eye to Islamic militants working with them.

Tensions between Afghanistan and Pakistan have been high for months. This peaked last year when dozens of civilians, security forces and militants were killed in deadly clashes between the countries.

On October 8, terrorists ambushed an army convoy in Pakistan’s Orakzai district and killed 11 soldiers. The attack was part of a wider wave of violence that has killed hundreds of civilians and security personnel in recent years.

Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif said Pakistan would not tolerate any more loss of life and declared that the military had been given full powers to respond. The next day, the Pakistani military launched attacks inside Afghanistan, prompting cross-border clashes.

A Qatari-brokered ceasefire ended the fighting in mid-October, although there have been repeated strikes and skirmishes along the border since then, leading to dozens of deaths. The two sides differed widely on casualty figures.

Peace talks in Istanbul in November failed to reach a long-term solution.

Tensions have also risen over Pakistan’s mass deportation of Afghan refugees.

In 2023, Pakistan began a nationwide crackdown on foreigners living without legal status. While officials say the campaign has not targeted any one nationality, it has primarily affected Afghans.

Over the past four decades, millions of Afghans have sought refuge in Pakistan after fleeing war, political instability and economic hardship in their homeland. The crackdown is affecting more than two million Afghans in Pakistan, including some who were born there.

Iran, Afghanistan’s western neighbor, has also carried out expulsions, further draining resources in impoverished Afghanistan. The UN’s refugee agency estimates a total of 5.4 million people have returned to the country since October 2023, mostly from Pakistan and Iran.

The fighting has alarmed the international community, especially in a region where al-Qaeda and other militant groups, including the Islamic State group, still have a presence and are trying to resurgence.

In October, Turkey, Qatar and Saudi Arabia facilitated talks between the countries. At the time, US President Donald Trump said he intended to resolve the conflict “very quickly”. Whether they do so again remains to be seen.

Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan spoke with his Pakistani, Afghan, Qatari and Saudi counterparts, a Turkish official said on Friday, speaking on condition of anonymity in line with government policy.

Russia has called for an immediate end to fighting and a diplomatic solution to the conflict, while Iran has said it is ready to help facilitate talks.

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Bekatoros contributed from Athens, Greece and Castillo from Beijing, China