“Pakistan’s military, backed by artillery and air power, struck more military installations deep inside Afghanistan overnight,” reports The Associated Press. Pakistan declared that it is in an “open war” with Afghanistan.
Pakistan has more than five times as many people as Afghanistan, although Afghanistan is mountainous and hard to occupy, and much of Pakistan’s military faces rival India, which has fought four major wars with Pakistan. Pakistan’s economy is 20 times as big as Afghanistan’s. But Afghanistan benefits from the $7 billion in U.S. military equipment left behind when the U.S. withdrew from Afghanistan in 2021, letting the country fall to the anti-American Taliban.
“Pakistan on Saturday claimed more than 330 Afghan forces had been killed since fighting erupted Thursday night during a broad Afghan cross-border attack into Pakistan. Afghanistan rejected the figures as false.”
Both sides seem to be exaggerating the number of opposing soldiers they killed.
Afghanistan attacked Pakistani border posts after Pakistani airstrikes in Afghanistan on February 22. “Pakistan said it was targeting the outlawed Pakistani Taliban, or TTP. The group is separate but closely allied with Afghanistan’s ruling Taliban.” Afghanistan claimed only civilians were killed in that Pakistani airstrike.
After Afghanistan attacked Pakistani border posts, Pakistani Defense Minister Khawaja Mohammad Asif said two days ago, “Our patience has now run out. Now it is open war between us.”
Pakistani Information Minister Attaullah Tarar claimed yesterday that at least 331 Afghan soldiers had been killed and more than 500 others were wounded by Pakistan’s military strikes. He claimed that Pakistan destroyed 102 Afghan posts, captured 22 others and destroyed 163 tanks and armored vehicles.
Afghanistan claims it did not suffer such losses and that Pakistan is lying.
Yesterday, Afghanistan claimed its forces killed 110 Pakistani soldiers and captured 27 Pakistani border posts.
