Pakistan resumes attacks in Afghanistan after temporary halt

Tooba Khan, Bloomberg News on Mar 27, 2026

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Pakistan has resumed its military operations in Afghanistan that have killed hundreds on both sides of the border, ending a temporary ceasefire that was agreed last week to observe the Muslim festivity of Eid.

The operation will continue until the objectives are achieved, Foreign Ministry spokesperson Tahir Andrabi said at a weekly briefing in Islamabad on Thursday. Pakistan has asked the Taliban government in Kabul to clamp down on militants operating and planning attacks from its soil - a charge denied by Afghanistan.

The clashes that started about a month ago were halted March 19 to March 24 after requests from Saudi Arabia, Qatar and Turkey. The pause came after deadly airstrikes by Pakistan in Kabul at a medical facility that the Taliban government said killed about 400 people, sparking global alarm and calls for a ceasefire. Pakistan denied the claim and said it attacked a militant hideout.

Afghan Taliban officials said fighting restarted along the border on Wednesday after the ceasefire expired, killing two and injuring others, the Associated Press reported.

Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim talked with Afghanistan’s premier on phone on Thursday to discuss regional developments, “particularly the recent situation between Afghanistan and Pakistan,” according to Afghanistan’s spokesperson Zabihullah Mujahid in a post on X. Pakistan’s Premier Shehbaz Sharif separately talked to Malaysia’s Ibrahim on the same day about “de-escalating the prevailing situation in the region” according to a post on X by the Prime Minister’s Office in Islamabad.

Pakistan declared an “open war” with Afghanistan in February and has since struck military and other facilities deeper inside the country. Pakistan has said it attacked 81 locations in Afghanistan and killed more than 700 Taliban forces and militants.