Pakistan Defence Minister Khawaja Asif declared an “open war” with the Afghan Taliban on Friday and said his air force had carried out airstrikes in Kabul and two other Afghan provinces in retaliation for Afghanistan’s “cross-border attack on Pakistan.”

For its part, the Afghan ministry reportedly claimed responsibility for killing 55 Pakistani soldiers in retaliatory operations carried out along the Durand Line on Thursday. Meanwhile, Pakistan said it killed over 130 Taliban fighters in its retaliatory operation. Tensions continued to escalate at the Pakistan-Afghanistan border as China, Russia and Iran urged calm and offered to mediate the dispute.

Pakistan’s information ministry said Afghan Taliban opened “unprovoked firing” on multiple locations along the border in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa’s Chitral, Khyber, Mohmand, Kurram and Bajaur sectors on Thursday evening.

In the last three weeks Afghan-based suicide bombers have attacked a Shia mosque in Pakistan’s capital Islamabad, killing 31 worshippers; a military outpost, killing 11 security personnel; and a police station, killing two.

The Taliban’s recent alignment with Pakistan’s arch enemy India escalates the situation.

Islamabad claims that India provides financial backing and training to anti-Pakistan organizations such as Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), which have found refuge in Afghanistan. Recently, New Delhi has deepened its ties with Afghanistan’s Taliban government. In October last year, the Taliban’s foreign minister visited New Delhi, following which India upgraded its embassy in Kabul. However, India has yet to officially recognize the Afghan government diplomatically. So far, Russia remains the only nation to have granted formal recognition.

War is a constant risk in South Asia, where longstanding enemies India and Pakistan both possess nuclear weapons.

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Elevated Tensions

In May last year the two neighbors fought a brief war that ended after four days with Pakistan claiming victory after downing five Indian fighter jets, a claim Washington later corroborated.

The latest round of escalating attacks by Afghan-based militants and the Taliban government’s closer ties with India has further elevated tensions in a region, where a multitude of militant groups operate with seeming impunity.

Growing instability has expanded the areas where governmental authority in Pakistan and Afghanistan is minimal or nonexistent. This situation has benefited numerous militant organizations, who are now intensifying their recruitment efforts, coordinating more sophisticated attacks, and securing increased financial resources and backing.

A look at the region’s complex militant landscape shows a pattern of escalating violence and constant change.