onsdag 18. mars 2026

Iran war overlaps with Afghanistan-Pakistan conflict

While international attention is focused on the war between Iran, Israel, and the United States, an "open war" is escalating between nearby Afghanistan and Pakistan, which could have a strategic ripple effect throughout the region.

Taliban rulers in Afghanistan on Tuesday accused Pakistan of carrying out an airstrike that killed at least 400 people at a drug treatment hospital in Kabul late Monday. Afghan officials said the strike hit the 2,000-bed rehabilitation facility at around 9 p.m. local time (1630 GMT), causing extensive damage and leaving hundreds wounded, in a major escalation of the weekslong cross-border fighting between the neighbors.

Islamabad denied targeting civilian infrastructure, saying its armed forces carried out "precision airstrikes" that aimed at "military installations and terrorist support infrastructure" in Kabul and eastern Nangarhar province. That is according to Attaullah Tarar, the country's information minister.