With Pakistan and Afghanistan at War, China Confronts a Strategic Moment on Its Frontier

A Taliban security personnel operating an anti-aircraft gun keeps watch for Pakistani airstrikes near the Torkham border crossing between Afghanistan and Pakistan in the Nangarhar province on February 27, 2026 following overnight cross-border fighting between the two countries. Photo by AIMAL ZAHIR / AFP

Pakistan’s Defense Minister Khawaja Asif declared “open war” against Afghanistan on Friday amid a surge of fighting between the two South Asian neighbors.

Pakistan said it’s retaliating against Afghanistan for a series of attacks, including a suicide bombing in early February that killed at least 36 people at a Shia mosque in Islamabad. Afghan commanders, in turn, said they are responding with “large-scale offensive operations” along the “Durand Line” that separates the two countries.

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by Agence France-Presse

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