'Dama Dam Mast Qalandar': Pakistan declares 'open war' against Afghanistan, says 'patience has reached its limit'

Pakistan on Friday (Feb 27) declared "open war" against Afghanistan’s Taliban authorities. This comes after a sharp escalation in cross-border fighting. "Our patience has reached its limit," said Pakistan's defence minister Khawaja Asif in a post on X, as reports of blasts and gunfire emerged from Kabul and Kandahar.

What did Khawaja Asif say?

The Pakistani minister stated that after NATO forces withdrew, it was expected that there would be peace in Afghanistan and that the Taliban would prioritise the well-being of the Afghan people and regional stability. However, he claimed that instead, Afghanistan has become “a colony of India."

Slamming the Taliban government for “depriving” its citizens of “basic human rights,” he noted that the government “snatched away the rights that Islam grants to women.”

He added that while Islamabad “made every effort to keep the situation normal through direct means and through friendly countries,” but “attempts are being made to target Pakistan with aggression”.

“Now it is open war between us and you,” he said, adding, "Now it will be ‘Dama Dam Mast Qalandar’.”

Pakistan's 'befitting response'

Earlier, Pakistan's Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi said the country's latest military action was a "befitting response" to what he called Afghan aggression. His remarks came hours after Taliban officials said their forces had attacked Pakistani troops along the frontier in retaliation for earlier air strikes. "Pakistan's armed forces have given a befitting response to the Afghan Taliban's open aggression," he said.

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Tit-for-tat attacks along the frontier

According to Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid X post, Afghan forces launched "wide-ranging retaliatory operations" against Pakistani troop positions "in the directions of Kandahar and Helmand as well."

"In response to repeated violations by the Pakistani military, large-scale offensive operations were launched against Pakistani military bases and military installations," said the Taliban government spokesperson. Afghan officials claimed dozens of Pakistani soldiers were killed and several captured in the clashes, which they said were triggered by strikes that caused civilian casualties days earlier.

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Pakistan's information ministry, meanwhile, said Afghan Taliban forces had "opened unprovoked fire on multiple locations" in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, prompting what it described as an "immediate and effective" counter-response. Islamabad had earlier vowed an "immediate" response after Afghan fighters reportedly attacked its forces on Thursday.

Months of tensions boiling over

The latest fighting follows months of mounting strain between the neighbours. Pakistani air strikes last week on Nangarhar and Paktika provinces reportedly killed at least 13 civilians, according to the UN mission in Afghanistan, though Islamabad said militants were targeted.

Border crossings have largely remained shut since deadly clashes in October left more than 70 people dead on both sides. Efforts at mediation, including talks brokered by Qatar and Turkey, have so far failed to hold.

Islamabad has repeatedly accused Kabul of failing to curb militant groups operating from Afghan soil, an allegation the Taliban denies.