Pakistan has carried out air strikes on 10 locations in Afghanistan, targeting sites it says were used to launch and store drones involved in attempted attacks the previous day.
Information minister Attaullah Tarar said the strikes were conducted on Thursday against what he described as identified military objectives linked to the drone operations. He said Pakistan’s air defence systems had detected drones launched from Afghan territory on Wednesday and tracked and neutralised them before they reached their intended targets.
Tarar said the action involved “precision aerial and drone strikes” and warned that any further attacks would draw a firm response. “Any further provocative act by Afghan Taliban will be responded with firm and resolute response,” he said in a post on X.
Taliban officials denied that their government had launched drones against Pakistan. Two Taliban spokespeople said the strikes hit several areas in the south-eastern Afghan provinces of Khost and Paktia, but caused no casualties.
Pakistan air strikes follow renewed border tensions
The latest exchange follows an attack on a police facility in north-western Pakistan last week in which at least 24 people were killed. The incident has contributed to renewed fighting between the neighbouring countries after almost three months of relative calm.
Islamabad has accused Kabul of allowing Islamist militants to operate from Afghan territory and carry out cross-border attacks. Afghanistan’s Taliban government rejects the accusation and says militancy is an internal Pakistani problem.
Pakistan also said this week that it had conducted air strikes in the Afghanistan-Pakistan border region, killing 28 militants. Afghan Taliban officials, however, accused Islamabad of killing three civilians in overnight strikes on Afghan territory.
The most serious reported incident took place in March, when more than 400 people were killed in a Pakistani air strike on Kabul. The Afghan Taliban said the attack hit a drug rehabilitation centre, while Islamabad denied the allegation and said it had targeted military installations and infrastructure supporting militants.
