Pakistan Declares ‘Open War’ With Afghanistan After Cross-Border Attacks

‘Patience has run out’ over Taliban attacks, Pakistan defense minister says.

ISLAMABAD—Pakistan’s defense minister said the country is at war with Afghanistan following what he said was a series of cross-border attacks.

Pakistani army tank at the Pakistan-Afghanistan border in Chaman on Friday.

“Our patience has run out and now there is an open war between us,” Defense Minister Khawaja Mohammad Asif said in a social-media post on Friday.

Pakistan has been pressing the Taliban regime in Kabul to halt attacks by Afghan forces and the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan, or TTP, a group of Pakistani militants based across the border.

Pakistan has responded “in full force,” striking Taliban hide-outs in Afghanistan and hitting targets in Kabul, the Afghan capital, according to Pakistan security forces.

A spokesman for the Taliban government in Afghanistan said the Pakistani military had carried out airstrikes in parts of Kabul, Kandahar and Paktia, a southeastern province that borders Pakistan. He said there were no casualties.

Updates will follow of this developing story.