Pakistan stock market KSE 100 index crashes nearly 2% on 'open war' with Afghanistan

Pakistan stock market KSE 100 index crashes nearly 2% on 'open war' with Afghanistan.

• KSE-100 index dropped 2% amid Pakistan-Afghan tensions.
• Pakistan's defence minister declared "open war" with Afghanistan.
• Heavy profit booking seen in key sectors amid market volatility.

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Pakistan benchmark KSE-100 index plunged nearly 2 percent in intraday trade on Friday after the country’s defence minister said Islamabad now considers itself in an "open war" with Afghanistan following cross-border strikes by both sides.

The index dropped 3,081 points, or 1.82 percent, to hit an intraday low of 165,811.88. It later recovered part of the losses and was trading at 168,062.17, down 0.5 per cent post noon.

Heavy profit booking was witnessed in automobile assemblers, cement, commercial banks, fertiliser, and oil and gas exploration stocks, among others.

In a post on X, Defence Minister Khawaja Mohammad Asif said Pakistan had hoped for peace in Afghanistan after the withdrawal of NATO forces and expected the Taliban to focus on the welfare of the Afghan people and regional stability.

"Our patience has now run out. Now it is open war between us," he said.

Pakistan declares 'open war' with Afghanistan

The comments came hours after Pakistan carried out airstrikes in Kabul, Kandahar in the south and Paktia province in the southeast, according to Pakistani officials and Afghanistan government spokesperson Zabihullah Mujahid. Pakistan said the strikes were in retaliation for Afghan cross-border attacks.

The escalation comes months after Qatar and Turkiye mediated a ceasefire between the two sides.

Both governments have issued sharply differing casualty figures and claimed to have inflicted heavy losses on the other. The claims could not be independently verified.

Afghanistan’s Defence Ministry said 55 Pakistani soldiers were killed, including some whose bodies were taken into Afghanistan, and that several others were captured alive. It said eight Afghan soldiers were killed and 11 wounded.

The ministry also said it destroyed 19 Pakistani army posts and two bases, adding that the fighting ended around midnight, about four hours after it began on Thursday night.

(With inputs from AP)