Pakistan-Afghanistan Relations

Pakistan: Now it's open war with Afghanistan

Pakistan is now in open war with Afghanistan. This is what Pakistani Defense Minister Khawaja Muhammad Asif says according to Reuters.

- Our cup of patience has run out. Now it's open war.

Tensions between the two countries escalated during the night towards Friday into battles with heavy losses on both sides.

Kabul residents: Thought it was an earthquake – then we heard the explosion

The Pakistani bombings spread terror in the Afghan capital Kabul last night, according to witnesses who spoke to the BBC.

A Kabul resident testified that he had not slept all night.

“At first we thought it was an earthquake, because there was an earthquake in Kabul a few days ago. Then we heard a loud explosion,” he said.

A woman in the city told CNN that she was woken up by the flash of light from the explosions.

“I am convinced that all Kabul residents are terrified of being hit by a bomb,” she said.

Tensions between Afghanistan and Pakistan escalated overnight into a situation that Pakistan's defense minister described as "open war."

Analysis: Pakistan superior by far - but the Taliban are used to guerrilla warfare

Pakistan and Afghanistan are in a very serious situation after the night's mutual attacks, which prompted Pakistan's Defense Minister to declare "open war". Al Jazeera's Kamal Hyder writes.

"This is really a serious escalation, probably the worst since the Taliban took power."

According to a compilation of the countries' respective military capabilities made by Reuters, Pakistan has the clear advantage in terms of equipment, training and manpower. Pakistan also has 170 nuclear weapons.

However, analysts who spoke to BBC Urdu said it was unlikely that Afghanistan would fight a full-scale war. They pointed out that the Taliban had extensive experience in guerrilla warfare.