Pakistan strikes Afghan capital
Newshour
BBC
4.2 • 1.1K Ratings
🗓️ 27 February 2026
⏱️ 47 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
Pakistani forces struck the Afghan capital, Kabul, and the provinces of Kandahar and Paktika, though the casualty count remains unclear. We speak with a former Pakistani brigadier general and hear from voices on the ground in Kabul.
Also on the programme: an International Criminal Court judge whose life has been impacted by US sanctions, with credit cards and Google accounts cancelled; and celebrating 30 years of Pokemon. (Photo: Taliban soldiers load a rocket launcher in a vehicle, following exchanges of fire between Pakistan and Afghanistan forces, near Torkham border in Afghanistan on February 27, 2026. Credit: Reuters)
Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | BBC Sounds, Music, Radio, podcasts. |
| 0:09.2 | Hello and welcome to NewsHour from the BBC World Service. |
| 0:12.5 | We're coming to you live from London. |
| 0:14.3 | I'm James Menendez. |
| 0:15.4 | And we're going to start in the Afghan capital, Kabul. |
| 0:26.0 | Okay. the Afghan capital, Kabul. That's mobile phone footage sent to the BBC, which captured the sound of the emergency |
| 0:31.0 | services responding to a series of explosions in the city overnight. |
| 0:36.4 | Pakistani warplanes bombing both the capital and also |
| 0:39.4 | the city of Kandahar, the twin strongholds of the country's Taliban government. |
| 0:47.5 | We were all asleep when the plane came in very low. As soon as I heard the sound of the aircraft, |
| 0:53.1 | I got up. I saw the plane descend |
| 0:55.8 | and dropped two bombs. Then it went back up again. It was around 2 a.m. All of us, including |
| 1:01.8 | the women, ran downstairs. By the grace of God, we didn't suffer any loss of life, but the |
| 1:08.3 | doors were broken and the windows of the house were shattered. |
| 1:12.0 | Pakistan says it hit 22 military targets in Afghanistan overall and is now, according to the |
| 1:19.0 | country's defence minister, in a state of open war with its neighbour. The BBC's Yama Baris is in |
| 1:26.1 | Kabul. Kabul experienced sort of a chaotic night. |
| 1:30.9 | Last night, there were sounds of aircrafts, explosions and gunfires. |
| 1:36.2 | But at the dawn, the things were calm. |
| 1:39.1 | Life has returned back to normal. |
| 1:42.0 | Today, the Taliban said that during the day, some eastern parts of Afghanistan |
| 1:47.8 | were bombed again by Pakistani planes, which had some casualties, and at least there are reports |
... |
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