Monday's air strike on Kabul resulted in the highest number of casualties seen since hostilities began again in February.

Within hours of explosions ringing across the capital, both sides were posting on social media — a war of words as people searched for answers.

The Pakistani military regime has once again violated Afghanistan's airspace and targeted a drug rehabilitation hospital in Kabul, resulting in the death and injury of addicts who were undergoing treatment, posted Zabihullah Mujahid, the Taliban government's spokesperson, who added he considers such an act to be a crime against humanity.

On an account called Fact Checker MOIB, Pakistan's Ministry of Information responded, stamping propaganda across a picture of the Taliban spokesman's post.

On night 16 March, Pakistan precisely targeted military installations and terrorist support infrastructure including technical equipment storage and ammunition storage of Afghan Taliban and Fitna al-Khawarij (Pakistan's term used to refer to the Pakistani Taliban) in Kabul and Nangarhar that were being used against innocent Pakistani civilians, the post said.

Post strike detonation of stored ammunition being used by Master Terror Proxy also fully contradicts the fake claim.

By the morning, the Afghan Taliban officials claimed that the death toll in the strike was more than 400.

The BBC could not independently verify this total but was told by sources that more than 100 had been killed. The United Nations Assistance Mission to Afghanistan later said they verified 143 deaths and 119 injured at the centre, suggesting this number could increase as they continue the process.

Despite media and UN reports that a drug rehabilitation facility had been impacted, Pakistan's military has not acknowledged civilian casualties. Instead, its military spokesman levied more accusations.

The truth is they round up drug addicts and use them as suicide bombers, Lt Gen Ahmed Sharif Chaudhry, Pakistan's military's spokesman, said in an interview in the days following the strike. If they had addicts there it was likely a training facility for bombers.

The week has been indicative of how this conflict has played out. Neither side is holding back militarily – air strikes from Pakistan, drones from the Taliban government – nor in their language.

These posts and headlines can tell us something about the way both sides think about this conflict; from allies to enemies, now digging in, leaving little space for reconciliation.

Both sides blame the other for initiating the conflict. Pakistan says this is about terrorism. Militant attacks inside Pakistan have claimed an increasing number of lives; 2025 was the most violent year in a decade for militancy, according to Islamabad-based think-tank the Centre for Research and Security Studies. Pakistan has long accused the Taliban government of harbouring militant groups inside its borders that carry out attacks on Pakistan and accused India of supporting militancy there.

Both India and the Taliban government vehemently deny this, saying the militant attacks Pakistan has seen are an internal matter for Pakistan.

That's done little but to further infuriate many in Pakistan's authorities. Often within hours of an attack, it is common to hear Pakistan ministers link it to Afghanistan, leading to furious rebuttals from the Taliban government. After years of diplomatic efforts, Pakistan now says that there is nothing to talk about.

Pakistan does not have a militancy problem, says Mosharraf Zaidi, spokesman for Pakistan's prime minister. Pakistan does have an Afghan-Taliban regime problem. And Pakistan does have an India hegemony problem. We are going to solve each problem.

When the relationship between the two countries spilled into violent clashes on the border and with hits on Kabul and Kandahar in October, Pakistan's military did not openly claim responsibility for air strikes.