Long-running border conflict, Op Ghazab lil Haq, Kabul hospital strike: A timeline of Pakistan-Afghanistan clashes

The latest strikes come in continuation of Pakistan’s Operation Ghazab lil Haq, launched on February 26, according to the ministry of information and broadcasting in Islamabad. Follow Pakistan-Afghanistan ‘war’ news live updates

While the conflict between Pakistan and Afghanistan dates back to the British era, tensions escalated in 2021 after the Taliban’s return to power in Kabul.

From being each other’s closest friends for decades to now, accusing each other of cross-border militancy and terrorism, the two South Asian countries have been leaving behind a trail of conflicts.

The Durand Line was established in 1893 to define the border between the Emirate of Afghanistan and the British India Empire. This border arrangement was later inherited by Pakistan in 1947, following its partition with India.

The Durand Line is considered one of the most dangerous borders in the world, demarcating Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Balochistan in Pakistan, over which Afghanistan claims territorial sovereignty. The line also demarcates the disputed region of Gilgit-Baltistan, which is claimed by Pakistan, Afghanistan and India.

Tensions between the two neighbouring countries also increased after Afghanistan became the only nation to vote against Pakistan’s admission to the United Nations.

Pakistani and Afghan forces have clashed across the border for decades, with tensions taking their deadliest form ever since the Taliban takeover in Afghanistan in 2021.

Pakistan was forced to deploy its army personnel at forward positions along the Afghan border as Taliban forces pushed to capture the majority of the country.

The then-Afghanistan government was in a heated position with that of Pakistan, as the Taliban had seized control of the Spin Boldak border crossing. Islamabad had disapproved of Kabul’s proposal to attack Taliban positions from the Pakistani side of the border.

Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) director-general Babar Iftikhar, at the time, had said that Pakistan was a facilitator of the Afghan peace process, not a guarantor. He had told ARY News that Islamabad tried to move forward with the Afghan peace process with “sincerity”.

After the Taliban takeover in August, tensions once again arose between the two nations in December, as Pakistan said that its soldiers were stopped from installing a security fence in Nangarhar.

In February 2022, clashes between Pakistani and Afghan forces were reported at the Wesh-Chaman border crossing along the contested Durand Line.

A Taliban-appointed commissioner at Torkham, Mullah Mohammad Siddiq, had said that Pakistan was not abiding by its “commitments”, which is why the border crossing point was “shut down”, the Associated Press had reported.

In July again, Pakistan forces shelled Afghanistan’s Paktika province, days after Islamabad and Army Chief General Asim Munir threatened Kabul over terrorist attacks by Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP). Following this, the Taliban forces also retaliated, once again triggering border clashes between the two neighbours.

Then again, the Torkham border crossing became a contentious point for the two nations, as Pakistani and Taliban forces clashed at the crossing. This prompted the closure of the main land crossing for nearly ten days.

As the border crossing reopened after ten days, a security official in Torkham reportedly said talks between the two sides had resolved the issue that sparked the clashes.

Pakistan gave its account of the clashes at Torkham, saying that the Taliban administration had tried to encroach on its territory with the construction of an “unlawful structure” and cited “indiscriminate firing” by Afghan forces, Reuters reported.

Meanwhile, the Taliban foreign ministry accused Pakistani forces of firing on its border guards as they fixed an old security outpost.

In October and November, tensions heated up again. The Pakistani government had ordered undocumented foreigners to leave the country, warning them of expulsion otherwise. Most of the undocumented foreigners rounded up by Islamabad just before the government’s deadline for exiting the country were Afghans.

Pakistan refused calls from the UN, rights groups and Western embassies to reconsider its decision, reasoning that Afghans had been involved in Islamist militant attacks and in crime that undermined Pakistan’s security, Reuters had reported at the time.

Afghanistan’s defence ministry spokesman had said that the country’s border forces retaliated, targeting Pakistan’s military posts along the disputed border.

In September, the Pakistani and Afghan forces clashed once again near the Durand Line, as the Afghan Taliban reportedly tried to build a checkpost.

A fresh round of skirmishes between the two nations at the southwestern border was reported in October. The clash had begun at the Nushki border, which connects southwestern Balochistan province with Afghanistan, during the repair of the border fence by Pakistani border forces, according to Anadolu Ajansi.

Later in December, deadly clashes erupted, with Pakistan targeting multiple suspected hideouts of the Pakistani Taliban inside Afghanistan, destroying a training facility.

The Pakistani airstrikes on the Barmal district of Paktika province killed 46 people, including women and children, reported Afghanistan-based Khaama Press.

The Taliban ministry had vowed to retaliate against the airstrike, stating that defending their land and sovereignty is their legitimate right.

In October, Afghanistan launched attacks on Pakistani soldiers along their shared border, saying that it was in “retaliation for air strikes carried out by the Pakistani army on Kabul” on the night of October 7.

Afghanistan claimed that its strikes left 58 Pakistani soldiers dead, while Islamabad contested and stated the toll to be 23. Pakistan said that it killed over 200 Taliban and affiliated troops in counter fire.

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Days later, fresh clashes erupted along the Pak-Afghan border, with dozens of troops and civilians being killed.

Pakistan reportedly launched airstrikes in Afghanistan’s capital, Kabul, as well as the Kandahar province. The Pakistani military said two assaults by the Afghan Taliban on major border posts in the southwest and northwest were repelled, with around 20 Taliban fighters killed in attacks launched near Spin Boldak on the Afghan side, AFP reported.

Afghan officials had reportedly said that 15 civilians were killed and dozens were injured in the fresh violence on the border.

Taliban government spokesperson Zabihullah Mujahid accused Pakistani forces of “once again” carrying out attacks “with light and heavy weapons” in the district.

Later, on October 16, the two countries agreed to a 48-hour ceasefire, which both claimed was requested by the other side. This brought a temporary halt to the growing hostilities between the two nations along the Durand Line.

Just two days after the agreed ceasefire, Kabul claimed that Pakistan carried out late-night airstrikes in its border province of Paktika.

However, the hostilities ended soon after, as the two sides agreed to an immediate ceasefire the very next day amid negotiations in Doha.

The Pakistani airstrikes struck Nangarhar province’s Khogyani, Ghani Khel and Behsud, as well as Barmal and Urgun districts in Paktika, according to Afghan broadcaster Tolo News.

In the early hours of February 27, Pakistan launched a major military offensive under ‘Operation Ghazab lil Haq’ against Afghanistan, saying that the move came after “unprovoked firing” from across the border.

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A day before the strikes, Pakistani security sources reportedly said they had “irrefutable evidence” that militants in Afghanistan were behind a recent wave of attacks and suicide bombings, which targeted Pakistani military and police, Reuters reported.

Pakistan bombed major cities in Afghanistan, including the capital Kabul. Islamabad’s defence minister Khwaja Asif declared that the two nations were at an “open war”. He said that Pakistani forces were delivering a strong response to the aggression from the Afghan Taliban.

Asif said that Pakistan had made every effort to maintain normalisation, both directly and through friendly nations. He said that Islamabad’s previous role had been “positive”, highlighting the country’s hosting of Afghan refugees. However, he said, “Our patience has run out. Now there is an open war.”

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Though the hostilities later ceased for a short while to a greater extent, Pakistan, on March 16, launched overnight strikes, targeting Taliban positions in Kabul and Nangarhar, in continuation of its Operation Ghazab lil Haq.

The latest airstrikes also targeted the technical equipment storage and ammunition storage of the Afghan Taliban and Fitna al-Khawarij in Kabul and Nangarhar that were being used against innocent Pakistani civilians.

“Post strike detonation of stored ammunition being used by Master Terror Proxy also fully contradicts the fake claim,” the Pakistani ministry of information and broadcasting was quoted as saying by news agency PTI.

Islamabad also dismissed the Taliban’s statement that Pakistan struck civilians, stating that the country’s targeting is precise and carefully undertaken to ensure no collateral damage occurs.

Afghanistan has claimed that at least 400 people were killed and 250 were injured in the strike on a drug rehabilitation hospital. However, Pakistan rejected the claim and said it “targeted military installations and terrorist support infrastructure”.

Meanwhile, the Taliban has less than a third of Pakistan’s military personnel, with the figure standing at 1,72,000. Kabul possesses at least six aircraft and 23 helicopters. However, their condition is unknown, Reuters reported. It also mentioned that the Taliban does not have fighter jets or an effective air force.