Kabul and Islamabad’s feud intensified as Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid dropped a bombshell, fingering a Pakistani clique for destabilizing efforts. From Kandahar’s podium on Friday, he beseeched the world to halt these saboteurs amid a barrage of mutual air assaults.
Afghan pilots retaliated against military hubs after Pakistan’s Thursday blitz on Kabul, Kandahar, and Paktia—raids that claimed 13 lives and left 22 wounded. Mujahid stressed peaceful intent, recounting stalled talks where Pakistan stonewalled solutions, instead chasing conflict and offloading its crises onto Afghanistan.
Persistent Pakistani flights in Afghan skies only stoke the fire, he noted. Fitrat, the deputy voice, chronicled dawn strikes on Islamabad’s Faizabad vicinity, Naushera garrison, Jamrud base, and Abbottabad. The ministry boasted of 55 kills, plus captures of 19 checkpoints and dual depots, at the cost of eight Afghan dead and 11 injured.
Civilian agony peaked in Nangarhar, where a refugee haven absorbed Pakistani missiles, hospitalizing 13 with women and children hit hardest. As volleys echo across the frontier, the Taliban’s narrative frames Pakistan as the aggressor, complicating peace bids and threatening to draw in regional heavyweights.