Afghanistan Says It Foiled Strike on Bagram as Cross-Border War With Pakistan Intensifies

BY Rosemary

Afghan authorities said Sunday they thwarted an attempted airstrike on Bagram Air Base as heavy fighting with Pakistan entered a fourth consecutive day, marking the most serious escalation between the neighboring countries in years.

Officials in Parwan province, where the former U.S. military installation is located, said several Pakistani fighter jets entered Afghan airspace shortly before dawn and attempted to bomb the base. In a statement, provincial police headquarters said Afghan forces activated anti-aircraft and missile defense systems around 5 a.m., preventing the attack from reaching its intended target.

There was no immediate confirmation or response from Pakistan’s military or government regarding the allegation.

The reported incident comes amid what Pakistani officials have described as an “open war” with Afghanistan, a characterization that has alarmed regional and international observers. The frontier area has long been volatile, but the current confrontation represents the most sustained and intense exchange of fire since the Taliban regained power in Kabul in 2021.

The sprawling Bagram Air Base was once the largest U.S. military base in Afghanistan and a central hub for American and NATO operations during two decades of war. It was seized by Taliban forces during their rapid takeover of the country following the withdrawal of U.S. troops. Last year, U.S. President Donald Trump publicly floated the idea of reestablishing an American presence at the site, underscoring its enduring strategic significance.

The latest round of fighting began Thursday night when Afghan forces launched what they described as a broad retaliatory cross-border assault. Kabul said the operation was in response to Pakistani airstrikes carried out the previous Sunday. Islamabad had stated that those strikes targeted positions linked to the outlawed Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan, or TTP, a militant group responsible for numerous attacks inside Pakistan. Afghan officials countered that the bombardment killed civilians.

The TTP, while organizationally distinct from Afghanistan’s ruling Taliban, is widely viewed as ideologically aligned and has been accused by Islamabad of operating from safe havens inside Afghan territory. Kabul has repeatedly denied providing sanctuary to the group.

Pakistan’s Defense Minister, Khawaja Mohammad Asif, declared after Thursday’s Afghan incursion that Islamabad’s patience had run out and that the confrontation had entered a state of open war. Since then, both sides have traded artillery fire, drone strikes and aerial maneuvers along multiple sectors of the rugged border.

Pakistani security officials, speaking on condition of anonymity, said their ground forces remained in control of a key Afghan border post and approximately 32 square kilometers in the southern Zhob sector near Kandahar province. They said the territory was seized during intense fighting on Friday and remained under Pakistani control as of Sunday.

Afghan authorities rejected that assertion. Deputy government spokesman Hamdullah Fitrat dismissed Pakistan’s claims as baseless and said Afghan forces continued to defend their positions across contested areas.

In eastern Afghanistan, the fighting extended overnight into Sunday. In Nangarhar province, local police spokesman Said Tayyeb Hammad said anti-aircraft missiles were fired from Jalalabad and nearby districts at Pakistani jets flying overhead. Afghan Defense Ministry spokesman Enayatulah Khowarazmi said snipers and ground units launched counterattacks from Nangarhar, Paktia, Khost and Kandahar provinces. He claimed two Pakistani drones were shot down and dozens of Pakistani soldiers were killed.

Pakistan has not publicly responded to those specific battlefield claims. Casualty figures released by both governments vary sharply, with each side asserting heavy losses on the other while reporting comparatively low numbers among their own forces. Independent verification has not been possible due to restricted access to the conflict zone.

Afghan officials also accused Pakistan of striking civilian areas. Fitrat said drone attacks hit residential homes in Nangarhar province late Saturday, killing a woman and a child. He added that mortar fire struck a house in Paktia province, killing another civilian. There was no immediate comment from Islamabad on those allegations.

The escalating hostilities have heightened concerns among security analysts that prolonged instability along the Afghanistan-Pakistan border could create opportunities for other militant organizations to regroup. Both al-Qaida and the Islamic State group have maintained a presence in parts of the region, and intelligence officials have warned that sustained conflict between Kabul and Islamabad could divert resources away from counterterrorism operations.

The two countries have experienced repeated cycles of violence in recent years. Border clashes in October left dozens of soldiers, civilians and suspected militants dead before a ceasefire mediated by Qatar temporarily halted the fighting. Subsequent rounds of negotiations in Turkey failed to produce a lasting settlement, and sporadic exchanges of fire continued in the months that followed.

As the current confrontation enters its fourth day, there is little indication of de-escalation. Diplomatic channels appear stalled, and both governments have adopted increasingly forceful rhetoric. With military assets mobilized on both sides of the frontier and accusations mounting, the risk of further escalation remains high in a region already marked by decades of conflict and fragile security.