US backs Pakistan’s right to defend itself against Afghan Taliban government

Washington: The United States said on Friday it supported Pakistan after it bombed neighbouring Afghanistan and declared war against its Taliban government following clashes.

"We continue to monitor the situation closely and expressed support for Pakistan's right to defend itself against Taliban attacks," Allison Hooker, the under secretary of state for political affairs, wrote on X after talks with a Pakistani counterpart.

She said she expressed to Foreign Secretary Amna Baloch, Pakistan's senior-most career diplomat, US "condolences for lives lost in the recent conflict between Pakistan and the Taliban."

Hooker's brief statement did not call for an end to the fighting. Britain earlier called for "de-escalation," China called for a ceasefire and Iran offered to mediate.

Pakistan bombarded Afghanistan's major cities in its most significant attacks since the Taliban returned to power in 2021 with the US withdrawal.

The Afghanistan war has soured the US relationship with Pakistan, with former president Joe Biden wanting little to do with Islamabad due to past support for the Taliban as the United States propped up a pro-Western government.

President Donald Trump has shifted course and forged close ties with Pakistan, which has gone out of its way to praise him for his mediation during a conflict with India last year and said he deserved the Nobel Peace Prize.

Trump, asked about the strikes on Afghanistan earlier Friday, hailed Pakistan's powerful military chief Field Marshal Asim Munir and Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif.

"You have a great prime minister, you have a great general there, you have a great leader. I think two of the people that I really respect a lot," Trump told reporters.

"I think Pakistan is doing terrifically well."