KABUL (Dispatches) -- The Taliban-led government in Afghanistan on Friday accused Pakistan of carrying out airstrikes on the capital, Kabul, in what it described as a grave escalation of hostilities between the neighboring countries.
The Afghan Ministry of Defense said in a statement that Pakistan had “violated the airspace” over Kabul and bombed a civilian market near the border on Thursday night. No details of casualties were provided.
“This is an unprecedented, violent, and reprehensible act in the history of Afghanistan and Pakistan,” the ministry said, warning that the “consequences will fall with the Pakistani army.”
Pakistan’s military declined to confirm or deny the attack, but tensions between the two sides have been mounting for months amid a surge in cross-border violence. 
Pakistan has accused the Afghan Taliban of harboring militant groups, including Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), also known as the Pakistani Taliban, and Baloch separatist factions.
Pakistan had long supported the Afghan Taliban during their insurgency against NATO forces, hoping to secure strategic depth and influence over Afghanistan post-U.S. withdrawal. However, relations soured after the Taliban seized power in August 2021.
Since then, Islamabad has accused the Taliban of turning a blind eye to militant groups that have launched deadly attacks inside Pakistan from Afghan soil. 
Pakistani officials say the TTP has re-emerged as a potent threat, bolstered by fighters released from Afghan prisons and weapons left behind by retreating Western forces.
A United Nations Security Council report last year estimated that up to 6,000 TTP fighters were operating from Afghanistan. Pakistan’s military claims it has killed over 1,300 militants since September 2022, including in recent weeks following deadly TTP attacks. In one incident this week, at least 12 Pakistani soldiers were killed in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province.
The Taliban deny allowing Afghan territory to be used for cross-border attacks. Kabul has repeatedly accused Islamabad of launching air and drone strikes inside Afghanistan, particularly in border provinces. Pakistan has admitted to at least one such operation in the past, but the alleged strike on Kabul marks a significant escalation.
Amid the rising tensions, the Taliban’s foreign minister Amir Khan Muttaqi visited New Delhi on Friday, marking the first official Taliban visit to India since their return to power. He met Indian foreign minister S. Jaishankar who alluded to the need for coordinated efforts.
Although India has not formally recognized the Taliban government, it announced the reopening of its embassy in Kabul, signaling deepening engagement.
“India is taking advantage of the tensions between Pakistan and Afghanistan, as in ‘the enemy of my enemy is my friend,’” said Nayanima Basu, a fellow at Mumbai-based think tank Gateway House.
Pakistan’s military spokesman Lt-Gen Ahmed Sharif Chaudhry also accused India of using Taliban-ruled Afghanistan as a base to support TTP and Baloch 

 insurgents—a claim India strongly denies.
Meanwhile, Pakistan has deported more than 800,000 Afghan refugees since 2023 and has frequently closed key border crossings. Pakistan’s foreign minister has visited Kabul three times in five months in an attempt to manage tensions.
“Pakistan’s leadership believes the Taliban are deliberately weaponizing the TTP to coerce them,” said Asfandyar Mir, a senior fellow at the Stimson Center in Washington. “Heavy losses to security forces have hardened attitudes in Islamabad.”
Chaudhry concluded that “for Pakistan, the solution lies in the Afghans acting like a responsible state.”