ISLAMABAD/KABUL: Pakistan said on Thursday that its air force carried out strikes on 10 locations in Afghanistan that were being used to launch and store drones.
Islamabad said some of the drones had been used in attacks against Pakistan a day earlier. The strikes marked another escalation between the two neighbouring countries.
Afghanistan’s Taliban government, meanwhile, said the strikes killed four civilians and warned that it would respond.
Pakistan’s Information Minister Attaullah Tarar said the country’s air defence systems detected drones launched from Afghan territory on Wednesday.
He said Pakistani forces tracked and neutralised the drones before they could reach their intended targets.
Pakistan then carried out what Tarar described as “precision aerial and drone strikes” against 10 locations. He said the targets were limited to identified military objectives linked to the attempted attacks.
“Any further provocative act by Afghan Taliban will be responded with firm and resolute response,” Tarar said.
Taliban Denies Launching Drones
Taliban officials denied that their government had launched drones against Pakistan.
Taliban spokesperson Zabihullah Mujahid said Thursday’s strikes hit Kandahar, Paktia and Khost provinces.
He said the attacks killed four Afghan civilians and warned of an “appropriate response”.
Mujahid described the strikes as an act of aggression and rejected Pakistan’s account of the drone incursions.
Khost officials separately said the strikes in their province caused no casualties, while Afghan officials reported attacks in the three provinces.
Tensions Escalate
Pakistan and Afghanistan have increasingly clashed over militant activity along their western and northwestern border.
Islamabad accuses the Taliban government of allowing Islamist militants to operate from Afghan territory and launch attacks inside Pakistan.
Kabul denies the allegations and says militancy inside Pakistan is an internal security issue.
The latest strikes followed an attack on a police facility in northwestern Pakistan last week that killed at least 24 people, according to the Reuters report. The incident reignited fighting after nearly three months of relative calm.
Pakistan had also carried out airstrikes in Afghanistan earlier this week.
Islamabad said those strikes killed 28 militants. Afghan officials and the United Nations, however, said three civilians were killed in the attacks.
The latest escalation comes despite mediation efforts by regional countries seeking to reduce tensions between the two neighbours.
Both sides have repeatedly exchanged accusations over cross-border militancy and attacks, raising concerns about further deterioration in relations.
