Pakistan and Afghanistan have continued trading attacks after Pakistan bombed Afghanistan’s two biggest cities in the early hours of Friday.

Pakistan stock market fell after the US ordered non-emergency staff and their family members at its consulates in Lahore and Karachi to leave Pakistan, citing potential security risks and the threat of terrorist attacks following violent protests triggered by the killing of Iran’s top leader.

Pakistan struck Kabul and two other provinces hours after the Taliban launched cross-border attacks, in the latest escalation of violence between the two South Asian neighbors.

Pakistan has carried out fresh airstrikes inside Afghanistan, targeting areas including Kabul, Kandahar and border provinces amid rising tensions between Islamabad and the Taliban-led government.

Abdul Qahar Afghan reported from Kabul, Afghanistan. Associated Press writers Riaz Khan and Rasool Dawar in Peshawar, Pakistan, Eduardo Castillo in Beijing, Elena Becatoros in Athens, Greece, and Suzan Fraser in Ankara, Turkey, also contributed to this story.

Escalating tensions between the two nations flared into open conflict, as Pakistan’s defense minister said his country’s patience with the Taliban had run out.

Afghanistan said on Sunday that the war in neighbouring Iran would negatively impact the whole region and expressed "deep regret" over the violence flaring in multiple countries.The Iranian flag was lowered to half-mast at the country's embassy in Kabul,

Votes on Iran saw Congress divide mostly along party lines, but veterans in both parties share reservations about the conflict.