Countries in the Persian Gulf shut down their airspace, forcing some of the world’s biggest airlines to halt operations after Iran targeted US bases across the peninsula in retaliatory strikes.
The joint Israeli-US strikes on Iran on Saturday targeted the Islamic republic's supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, and President Masoud Pezeshkian, Israel's public broadcaster reported.
Iran has responded to a wave of US strikes by launching missile attacks on multiple countries hosting some of the tens of thousands of American troops deployed across the Middle East.
Israel has declared a nationwide state of emergency following what officials have described as a preemptive strike on Tehran, amid fears of retaliation.
Pakistan’s military, backed by artillery and air power, struck more Afghan military installations deep inside Afghanistan overnight and into early Saturday, killing over 300 Afghan forces in dayslong border clashes, a government spokesman and officials said.
The U.S. and Israel launched an attack Saturday on Iran, with the first apparent strike happening near the offices of Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.
The strike follows months of rising tensions over Iran’s nuclear and missile programmes, renewed U.S.–Iran negotiations, and warnings of retaliation that could engulf the wider Middle East in another dangerous escalation.
Pakistan launched air strikes on cities in neighbouring Afghanistan on Friday, in a major escalation after months of attacks and cross-border strikes along their porous frontier.
Pakistan information minister on Friday confirmed that three cities, all in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, were targeted by Taliban drone attacks, claiming that no one was harmed.
Global powers have urged restraint as China, Russia, Iran and the United Nations pressed Pakistan and Afghanistan to immediately halt cross-border attacks and pursue diplomacy amid rising tensions.
Iran offered to help facilitate dialogue between Afghanistan and Pakistan after Islamabad declared the neighbours at "open war", carrying out air strikes on Kabul following border clashes.
Multiple explosions shook the Afghan capital, Kabul, and several other regions early Friday morning as Pakistan and Afghanistan exchanged military strikes across their volatile border, accusing each other of escalating the conflict.
