Pakistan’s defence minister has said the country is in an “open war” with neighbouring Afghanistan, after both nations launched strikes overnight.
Khawaja Muhammad Asif said Islamabad’s patience had run out as tensions escalated, with casualties reported on both sides.
“Our cup of patience has overflowed,” he said in a social media post. “Now it is open war between us and you [Afghanistan].”
He alleged the Taliban had turned Afghanistan “into a colony of India”, gathered militants from around the world and had started “exporting terrorism”.