"Our patience has run out. From now on, we are in an open war," declared the Pakistani Minister of Defense.
In the early hours of Friday, the sky over Kabul resounded with attacks by Pakistani fighter jets. Two other Afghan provinces were also bombed. Islamabad maintains that it was only responding to a previous attack launched from Afghan territory. It is another chapter in a historical rivalry. But the cross-border bombings and artillery exchanges are no longer mere border skirmishes: it is an increasingly direct clash that threatens to escalate a conflict simmering for decades.
In the early hours of Friday, the sky over Kabul resounded with attacks by Pakistani fighter jets. Two other Afghan provinces were also bombed. Islamabad maintains that it was only responding to a previous attack launched from Afghan territory. It is another chapter in a historical rivalry. But the cross-border bombings and artillery exchanges are no longer mere border skirmishes: it is an increasingly direct clash that threatens to escalate a conflict simmering for decades.
