Pakistan declares ‘open war’ against Afghanistan after cross-border attack – as it happened

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Both sides are reporting they have inflicted heavy casualties on each other, but it is difficult to know the true numbers when they are presenting sharply divergent figures.

Pakistan’s information minister Attaullah Tarar claims 133 Afghan Taliban fighters were killed, with more than 200 injured. Of its own soldiers, Tarar says that two were killed in the cross-border fighting, while three were injured.

The UK is deeply concerned by the significant escalation in tensions between Afghanistan and Pakistan. We urge both sides to take immediate steps toward de‑escalation, avoid further harm to civilians, and re‑engage in mediated dialogue.

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3d ago12.26 CET

Here are some images from the newswires from Afghanistan and Pakistan following the cross-border strikes last night.

[A villager examines the damaged rooftop of a mosque.]

*A villager examines the rooftop of a mosque damaged in overnight cross border fighting between Pakistan and Afghan forces, in Bajaur, a district of Pakistan's Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province. Photograph: AP*

[Muslim worshippers pray over two coffins covered in Pakistani flags.]

People offer funeral prayers for soldiers killed during a gun battle with militants in Waziristan area, on the outskirts of Kohat, Pakistan. Photograph: SB Shah/AP

[A Taliban fighter holding a firearm as three people walk away in the distance.]

An Afghan Taliban soldier stands guard on the Afghan side of the Torkham border crossing with Pakistan. Photograph: Wahidullah Kakar/AP

[An injured girl with bandaged arms sits on a hospital bed.]

A girl who was injured in the cross border fighting receives treatment at a hospital in Pakistan's Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province bordering with Afghanistan. Photograph: AP

[Two officers stand in front of a crowd of Muslim worshippers praying on a road.]

Pakistani security officials stand guard as Muslims perform the second Friday prayers during the Islamic holy month of Ramadan on a roadside in Peshawar, Pakistan. Photograph: Bilawal Arbab/EPA

[Two soldier stood at their post on top of a hill.]

Taliban soldiers stand on top of their post as they guard near the border, in Khost province. Photograph: Reuters

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