Pakistan’s defence minister Khawaja Asif has starkly warned that Islamabad is now in an “open war” with Afghanistan’s Taliban government, following some of the fiercest cross‑border clashes in years. Pakistan says the confrontation escalated after Taliban fighters carried out deadly cross‑border attacks that hit security posts and civilian areas, prompting the launch of major airstrikes on targets in and around Kabul, Kandahar and other parts of eastern Afghanistan. In response, the Afghan Taliban claim they have mounted large‑scale retaliatory operations, firing on multiple Pakistani border positions and engaging in hours‑long exchanges of heavy weapons along the disputed Durand Line border.