Pakistan has carried out airstrikes in Kabul and two other Afghan provinces, Afghanistan’s government spokesperson says

Pakistan has been the Afghan Taliban’s closest friend for decades. It was Islamabad that helped give birth to the Taliban in the early 1990s – as a way to give Pakistan "strategic depth" in its rivalry with India.

The Afghan Taliban said it had responded to the Pakistani strikes, which targeted Afghan cities including Kabul and Kandahar.

Pakistan’s defence minister said his country had run out of “patience” with Afghanistan after the latest cross-border attack as tensions escalalte.

Pakistan bombed major cities in Afghanistan including the capital Kabul on Friday, with Islamabad's defence minister declaring the neighbours at "open war" following months of tit-for-tat clashes.

The declaration on Friday comes hours after after Taliban spokesperson Zabihullah ⁠Mujahid said Afghanistan was carrying out “large-scale offensive operations” against the Pakistani military “along the Durand Line ” that separates the two countries.