A Pakistani soldier stands guard at the Pakistan-Afghanistan border in Chaman (Pakistan), after overnight exchanges of gunfire between the two countries on February 27, 2026. ABDUL BASIT/AFP
Belligerent rhetoric and casualties do not yet make a war. After Pakistani air strikes against Taliban military installations overnight Thursday, February 26, and then the Afghan regime's retaliation on Friday against positions held by the Pakistani army, neither state showed any willingness to yield to the other's demands. Nevertheless, amid diplomatic expressions of concern from their respective allies over a possible escalation, on Friday night both belligerents seemed to be weighing the risks of a full-scale confrontation.
On Friday, both countries released casualty figures that could not be independently verified. The military spokesperson for the Pakistani army, Lieutenant General Ahmed Sharif Chaudhry, claimed that the strikes had killed 274 Taliban, while Pakistan reportedly lost 12 soldiers.
The Afghan government spokesperson, Zabihullah Mujahid, meanwhile, stated that Taliban forces had killed 40 Pakistani soldiers during a border assault. "The goal," he added, "was to make it clear that we can reach them and will respond to every malicious act."
