Pakistan has declared it is in “open war” with Afghanistan’s Taliban government following a gradual escalation of tensions and cross-border clashes along the disputed Durand Line. Under Operation Ghazab lil-Haq (“Righteous Fury”), Pakistan launched airstrikes in response to what it called “unprovoked firing” from across the border.

Pakistani forces targeted at least 22 locations, including Kabul, Kandahar, Paktia, Nangarhar, Khost, and Paktika, saying they struck Taliban headquarters, ammunition depots, logistics bases, and other key military installations. Explosions were reported in Kabul.

Taliban spokesperson Zabihullah Mujahid said Afghan forces had launched “large-scale offensive operations” against Pakistani military positions in response to earlier Pakistani airstrikes. Afghan officials said they attacked Pakistani border troops in retaliation and claimed their drones successfully hit military targets inside Pakistan, though Islamabad said any drones were intercepted by anti-drone systems without damage.

Casualty figures are sharply disputed. Pakistan’s military spokesperson, Lt Gen Ahmed Sharif Chaudhry, said at least 274 Taliban fighters were killed and more than 400 injured since the operation began, while 12 Pakistani soldiers were killed and 27 wounded. Pakistan’s information minister gave a lower Taliban death toll of 133 and said two Pakistani soldiers were killed.

Afghanistan’s Taliban government claims 55 Pakistani soldiers were killed, eight Taliban fighters died, and 11 were injured. Kabul also said 13 civilians were wounded in a reported Pakistani strike on a refugee camp in Nangarhar and claimed to have captured Pakistani soldiers, which Islamabad denies.

Pakistan’s defense minister Khawaja Muhammad Asif said Islamabad had exhausted diplomatic options and would now take “decisive action,” blaming the Taliban for instability and terrorism. Asif accused the Taliban of turning Afghanistan into an Indian “colony,” exporting terrorism, and aligning with India, framing the conflict as a response to security threats and India’s growing ties with Kabul.

Mujahid said Afghanistan wants the fighting resolved through dialogue but warned it would respond to further Pakistani actions. Former Afghan President Hamid Karzai said Afghanistan would defend itself and urged Pakistan to change its policies and pursue good neighborly relations.

The fighting marks a major escalation since a ceasefire brokered by Qatar and Turkey in October temporarily halted deadly border clashes. Several rounds of negotiations in Doha and Istanbul failed to secure a lasting agreement, with disputes over ceasefire implementation, border mechanisms, and trade crossings. Since the Taliban returned to power in 2021, relations have deteriorated as violence surged on both sides.

At the center of the conflict is the 1,600-mile Durand Line, drawn in 1893 and recognized internationally as Pakistan’s border but rejected by Afghanistan. The colonial-era frontier divides Pashtun communities and has long been a source of friction.

Both sides accuse each other of failing to control militant activity along the border. Islamabad accuses Kabul of harboring Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) militants who carry out attacks inside Pakistan, as well as Baloch separatists in Balochistan. The Taliban deny responsibility and say Pakistan’s security problems are internal. Analysts note that this is the first time Pakistan has directly targeted Taliban government sites rather than only alleged TTP positions.

Broader regional rivalries have compounded the crisis. India strongly condemned Pakistan’s airstrikes, accusing Islamabad of trying to externalize its internal failures. India has recently strengthened ties with the Taliban, while Pakistan alleges that India funds anti-Pakistan groups in Afghanistan and inside Pakistan, a charge New Delhi denies.

Pakistan also accuses India of waging a proxy war in coordination with the Taliban, while India has increased diplomatic outreach to Kabul in what analysts describe as an “enemy of my enemy” approach as Islamabad’s influence in Afghanistan wanes.

International reaction has centered on restraint and dialogue. The United Nations expressed deep concern, with Secretary-General António Guterres urging compliance with international law, particularly international humanitarian law, and prioritizing civilian protection. The UN human rights chief called for urgent political dialogue amid concerns about rising civilian casualties.

The UK foreign secretary urged de-escalation and a return to mediated talks. Iran called for dialogue and restraint during Ramadan and offered to facilitate talks. Russia urged an immediate halt to cross-border attacks and offered to mediate if both sides agree. Türkiye and Qatar called for de-escalation, and China said it had been mediating through its own channels and was willing to play a constructive role.

The conflict carries significant regional security implications. Pakistan and India are nuclear-armed states, and Afghanistan has historically been a hub for global jihadist movements. Militarily, the balance is highly asymmetrical. Pakistan fields more than 600,000 active personnel, thousands of armored vehicles, and hundreds of combat aircraft, alongside nuclear weapons.

The Taliban are estimated to have around 172,000 fighters and limited air capabilities, possessing a small number of aircraft and helicopters with uncertain operational status. Analysts warn that the imbalance could lead to unconventional warfare, including increased terrorist attacks inside Pakistan’s major cities.

The post “Open War” Breaks Out Between Afghanistan and Pakistan appeared first on The Gateway Pundit.

Yesterday, the Gateway Pundit published our second update on the findings of our investigation into the documents from Detroit’s 2020 election. 

US Senator From Michigan Gary Peters Announces Retirement – Could His Decision Be Tied To His Massive Donation To The GBI Strategies Voter Registration Investigation in MI?

Apparently, we hit a nerve with someone or some group, as several attempts by a foreign nation were made to breach Check My Vote, an incredible website created by Phani Mantravadi (a core member of our election integrity team), which allows everyday individuals to access up-to-date voter rolls in their state. Check My Vote also allows users to look up specific addresses and voters to see who is voting at a specific address. In Michigan, Democratic Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson is so fearful of users having the type of easy access to the voter rolls via Check My Vote, that a new rule was passed last week by a small group of lawmakers in Michigan (because the Democrat lawmakers didn't show up for the meeting, the rule was passed), prohibiting clerks from accepting challenges about dead and ineligible voters from "third-party websites," like Check My Vote.

Phani Mantravadi is the founder and creator of Check My Vote. He's also the person who helped sift through and organize hundreds of thousands of documents that were dumped into an electronic file by the City of Detroit. The massive dump of unorganized documents was part of the City of Detroit's legal responsibility to fulfill its obligation to Independent Investigator Yehuda Miller after he successfully sued them for all of Detroit's documents from the 2020 election, including absentee ballot envelopes, absentee ballot applications, QVF files, ballots, total tapes, etc.

Many of the ballot envelope images were out of order, upside down, cut in half, etc., but after months of burning the midnight oil, he was able to organize the ballot envelopes and create a site where vetted volunteers could work to inspect over 155K envelopes and record the data for each, while reporting irregularities (of which there are many.)

Yesterday, after the Gateway Pundit released its second update on our investigation into Detroit's 2020 election documents, Phani Mantravadi's Check My Vote website received hundreds of attempts to infiltrate it from foreign IP addresses, specifically in the Netherlands. Curiously, the Gateway Pundit experienced glitches in its website at the same time. 

In our article, we asked anyone who is willing and able to contribute to our investigation to make a contribution of any size to our GiveSendGo account.

This morning, Steve Bannon invited The Gateway Pundit founder and publisher, Jim Hoft, and Patty McMurray to discuss the article about the ballot envelopes.

During the interview, Steve Bannon asked Patty McMurray, "Do you believe you have the same level of uh, evidence, let's call it, that Kash Patel, the ballots, the tapes, everything that Georgia had to raise? Do you believe that you were able to get it through these FOIA requests---that you have the equivalent of what Georgia's got, and now the federal government that they're fighting in court---that the traitors and crooks down there in Georgie are fighting to get back?" Steve asked. "Yes," I responded.

Here is the interview:

To date, 36% of the 64K + ballot envelopes we've examined were signed and dated by the voter and date-stamped with an official stamp by the clerk on the SAME DAY.  

On its face, this number appears to be statistically implausible, given that the USPS states on its website that first-class mail takes between 1 and 5 days to be delivered, and these ballots were mailed at the height of the COVID panic in Detroit.

On September 18, 2020, ProPublica warned about the delays in mail delivery, specifically mail-in ballots: "Poorly Protected Postal Workers Are Catching COVID-19 by the Thousands. It's One More Threat to Voting by Mail" — The article specifically notes severe disruptions in Detroit (a hot spot), with employee availability dropping up to 20% in areas like Detroit due to COVID-19 cases and related time off.

On October 10, 2020, Democrat Senator Gary Peters (MI) issued a statement about his grave concern about the City of Detroit USPS not delivering local mail in a timely fashion:

U.S. Senator Gary Peters (MI), Ranking Member of the Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee, released an investigative update with new U.S. Postal Service (USPS) data showing wide-spread fluctuations in on-time mail delivery, including recent and severe delays in the Detroit area. Peters’ update shows that while on-time mail delivery has improved nationwide due to congressional pressure and court orders, delivery performance remains below levels prior to Postmaster General DeJoy’s July 2020 changes. Peters also released an investigative update earlier this month showing on-time delivery remains a concern despite improvements following congressional oversight.

From Peters' report:
October 20, 2020 Investigative Update (Peters' office, via HSGAC): Shows Detroit District at 70.9% on-time for the week of October 3–9 (worst in the nation)

“Michiganders are counting on the Postal Service to deliver their mail on time, and this decline in service across the state is completely unacceptable,” said Senator Peters.

Senator Gary Peters (D-MI), who is retiring from the US Senate in 2026, was one of the primary funders of the GBI Strategies scandal, which led to a statewide investigation into mass voter registration fraud by the group he funded in the months leading up to the 2020 election. It's curious that he was funding the largest voter registration fraud organization on record in Michigan, while simultaneously screaming from the rooftops about the speed of mail delivery in Detroit, a city he won handily in a hotly contested race against now US Rep. John James (R-MI).

US Senator From Michigan Gary Peters Announces Retirement – Could His Decision Be Tied To His Massive Donation To The GBI Strategies Voter Registration Investigation in MI?

There were so many questions following the 2020 general elections from American citizens who knew in their gut that the election results were not to be believed. It may be 6 years later, but our team of election-integrity experts are committed to getting to the bottom of this investigation to show what happened in one of America's most crooked cities, with America's most crooked Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson at the helm.

The post STEVE BANNON On Detroit 2020 Election Documents Investigation: “Do you believe you have the equivalent of what Georgia’s got through [Ballots, etc.] these FOIA requests?” [VIDEO] appeared first on The Gateway Pundit.

CLICK HERE TO WATCH RIGHT NOW!

The Most Exciting, Intense, High-Energy MAGA/America First Podcast in the USA!

2 Hours Daily, Monday-Friday, 6 to 8 PM Eastern, 3 to 5 PM Pacific

The post Watch Live: The WAR Zone Podcast With Wayne Allyn Root Presented by The Gateway Pundit-More Arrests Connected to Don Lemon Minnesota Church Storming and More! appeared first on The Gateway Pundit.

In yet another example of out-of-touch Hollywood hypocrisy, Morgan Freeman has once again inserted himself into the political arena, blasting President Donald Trump as a “convicted felon” and questioning how the American people could possibly elect him, not once, but twice.

Appearing on MSNBC’s The Last Word with far-left host Lawrence O’Donnell, the 88-year-old actor didn’t hold back his disdain for the current administration.

While ostensibly on the program to promote a new series, the conversation quickly veered into the typical anti-Trump rhetoric. After asking O’Donnell for permission to use profanity, Freeman launched into a bitter tirade against the 47th President.

Lawrence O’Donnell:
With all your life experience, and to say that the world he left is a different world from where we are now—how would you describe where we are now?

Morgan Freeman:
Ummm… can I use any profanity?

Lawrence O’Donnell:
You can say whatever you want.

Morgan Freeman:
Well, we have somebody sitting in the White House who’s leading us down a sh*thole. I can’t personally understand how a convicted felon—convicted of 34 felony counts of wrongdoing—gets to be President. How do you do that? When you say, “Well, he was…” I don’t care. That ruling went down before he stepped into the Oval Office, so it just doesn’t make sense to me.

WATCH:

Freeman’s comments refer to the politically motivated “hush money” case in New York brought by a George Soros-backed DA to interfere with the 2024 election.

Despite the relentless lawfare and the constant drumbeat of “convicted felon” talking points from the media and Hollywood elites, the American people spoke clearly in November.

The irony, of course, is that while Freeman claims the country is going down a “sh*thole,” the stock market is hitting record highs and the world is finally seeing a return to “Peace Through Strength.”

The post Hollywood Elite Morgan Freeman Says He “Can’t Understand” How a ‘Convicted Felon’ Like Trump Became President: “It Just Doesn’t Make Sense to Me” appeared first on The Gateway Pundit.

The Gateway Pundit reported that Joe Biden’s FBI obtained phone records of Kash Patel and Susie Wiles back in 2022 and 2023, when they were private citizens, as part of Jack Smith’s investigation into classified documents lawfully stored at Trump’s Mar-a-Lago estate.

Patel told Reuters, which first reported on the subpoenas, that agents had sought his phone records “using flimsy pretexts and burying the entire process in prohibited case files designed to evade all oversight.”

Following the report, Patel told Fox News, “It is outrageous and deeply alarming that the previous FBI leadership secretly subpoenaed my own phone records — along with those of now White House chief of staff Susie Wiles — using flimsy pretexts and burying the entire process in prohibited case files designed to evade all oversight.”

According to Axios:

Trump officials familiar with the investigation tell Axios the revelations might be ‘the tip of the iceberg,’ and that the FBI may have probed more Trumpworld figures.

Wiles told associates: “I am in shock.”

Amid news of the disturbing revelations, FBI officials claimed Wiles’s attorney was aware that the call was being recorded and consented, but Wiles was not informed.

Axios reporter Marc Caputo reports that the lawyer, who has not been publicly identified, is pushing back against that claim.

Caputo wrote on X, “The lawyer representing Susie Wiles at the time of this incident categorically denies he allowed his client to be recorded by the FBI w/out her consent.”

“I understand she believes him & that the Biden-era FBI may have lied about it.”

“Here’s what the lawyer told me: “If I ever pulled a stunt like that I wouldn’t – and shouldn’t – have a license to practice law. I’m as shocked as Susie.”

The lawyer representing Susie Wiles at the time of this incident categorically denies he allowed his client to be recorded by the FBI w/out her consent

I understand she believes him & that the Biden-era FBI may have lied about it

Here’s what the lawyer told me: “If I ever… https://t.co/yG9AdDc38b pic.twitter.com/sdEtR3eZ0u

— Marc Caputo (@MarcACaputo) February 26, 2026

Caputo further noted, “I’m not printing the name of the attorney because both he and his former client believe he is being unfairly accused.”

Following the shocking news, Patel fired at least 10 of the FBI officials involved in secretly subpoenaing his phone records.

The post Susie Wiles’ Lawyer Denies Accusation He Approved FBI Recording appeared first on The Gateway Pundit.