The Pakistani military hit Bagram Air Base on Sunday, according to satellite images obtained by The New York Times, escalating its war against Afghanistan by targeting a prized asset of the Taliban administration.
A Pakistani military official, speaking on condition of anonymity to describe ongoing military operations, confirmed that Pakistan had carried out multiple strikes to destroy equipment and supplies. Afghan officials said on Sunday that there had been an attack on the base, which is north of Kabul.
In Bagram, the town adjacent to the base, four residents said they had heard at least two explosions at the base shortly after 6 a.m. on Sunday. Three of them also heard the sounds of at least one jet. The residents spoke on condition that their full names not be used to avoid retaliation from the Afghan authorities.
Over the past week, the Pakistani military has launched more than 50 airstrikes on Afghan military targets, in what Pakistani officials called an “open war” on the Taliban government. Until Sunday, however, nothing that Pakistan struck had the symbolic weight of Bagram — the crown jewel of Afghan bases and the nerve center of the 20-year U.S. war in Afghanistan.
Pakistan has justified the new “open war” by accusing the Taliban government of providing safe haven to militants who have killed hundreds of Pakistani security personnel in a yearslong insurgency.
Afghan officials have publicly denied hosting or supporting the militant group, Tehreek-e-Taliban, also known as the Pakistani Taliban, despite numerous reports by the United Nations and independent groups outlining their presence in Afghanistan.
Omar Mahmood Hayat, a retired Pakistani general, said fighters from the Pakistani Taliban were well equipped with weapons and ammunition, and that the airstrikes’ goal was likely to deplete those stocks as well as to weaken the conventional Afghan military.
“We cannot afford to have our territory trampled on again and again,” Mr. Hayat said.
The Afghan Defense Ministry said on Sunday that Pakistani had carried out an “aerial assault” on Bagram, but it did not say whether the base had sustained damage. Afghan officials didn’t respond to requests for comment on Monday.
Bagram Air Base was a big trophy when the Taliban retook control of Afghanistan in 2021 after the United States withdrew its forces. From 2022 to 2024, the Taliban paraded their military arsenal at the base every Aug. 15, the anniversary of their return to power.
The Afghan military stopped doing so last year, shortly after President Trump began calling on the Taliban government to give Bagram back to the United States. Mr. Trump has argued that the United States should never have abandoned Bagram, because of its strategic location near China, which shares a tiny border with Afghanistan.
The deal signed with the Taliban during Mr. Trump’s first administration contained no provision to retain the base and required a full U.S. military withdrawal.
Satellite imagery obtained by The Times shows that at least one aircraft hangar, as well as two large warehouses, were flattened in the strikes on Sunday. All the targeted buildings were in the northern part of the air base. The satellite imagery was captured on Sunday morning.
The Pakistani military official declined to give details about what equipment had been targeted.
“These strikes on airfields and depots serve two purposes — interdict any reinforcement and help that may be coming up, and send the message, ‘We can hit you here too, this can happen to you,’” said Inam Ul Haqe, a retired Pakistani general.
The Bagram base sits about 25 miles north of the capital, Kabul, and one of its runways is, at 11,800 feet, Afghanistan’s longest. It is unclear how the Afghan military uses the airfield, but recent reports have suggested that it now makes limited use of it.
Afghan officials have rejected Mr. Trump’s calls to give the airfield back.
“President Trump’s statements regarding Bagram Air Base appear to relate primarily to domestic American political considerations,” Afghanistan’s foreign minister, Amir Khan Muttaqi, told The Times in January. “We seek positive relations with the United States across all domains — without any military presence.”
Farmers and day laborers in the area said they were walking to mosques on Sunday when they heard at least two explosions tear through the sunrise’s quiet. On Monday, Bagram residents went on with their errands — female students mingled in the local market, children played near the base’s entrance and young men chatted in the grass, their motorcycles parked nearby.
“We Afghans want to live in peace and reconcile with one another. Pakistan is also Muslim, and so are we,” said Haji, a farmer. “If they do not let us continue our normal life and attack our country every day, we will also be forced to defend our country, our honor, and our dignity.”
Some Afghan officials have called for dialogue in the wake of the strikes. Others have adopted a more threatening tone.
“If today you have air power, missiles, and money, we have patience, determination, and faith,” Sirajuddin Haqqani, the Afghan interior minister, said in a speech on Friday about Pakistan. “Do not test our patience.”
Elian Peltier is The Times’s bureau chief for Pakistan and Afghanistan, based in Islamabad.
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