Daijiworld Media Network - Islamabad
Islamabad, Sep 24: Pakistan said on Thursday that it carried out airstrikes on 10 sites in Afghanistan that it alleged were used to launch and store drones involved in attacks against Pakistan a day earlier, marking a fresh escalation in tensions between the neighbouring countries.
Information Minister Attaullah Tarar said the strikes were carried out in response to eight drones allegedly launched from Afghan territory and attacks on Pakistani border posts. Pakistani officials also said their forces had foiled an attempted cross-border infiltration by militants.
In a post on X, Tarar said the targets were locations allegedly used for launching and storing the drones. He described the operation as a self-defence measure and said the strikes were limited to what Pakistan identified as military objectives linked to the attacks.
Tarar said Pakistan would not accept attacks launched from Afghan territory and warned that any violation of its sovereignty would draw a response. He called on the Afghan Taliban authorities to cease hostile activities and take what Pakistan described as effective and sustained action against militant groups operating from Afghan territory.
There was no immediate response from Kabul to Pakistan's latest strikes.
The latest escalation comes days after Pakistani airstrikes in Afghanistan's Kunar and Paktika provinces. Afghan government spokesperson Zabihullah Mujahid had said three civilians were killed and four others wounded in Kunar, while a house and a local shop were damaged in Paktika. Afghanistan had condemned the strikes and vowed an "appropriate response".
Relations between Pakistan and the Afghan Taliban have deteriorated amid allegations by Islamabad that Kabul has failed to act against Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) militants, whom Pakistan accuses of using Afghan territory to plan and carry out attacks inside Pakistan.
The latest Pakistani strikes also followed a major attack at the old Police Lines in Kohat, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, in which 23 people were killed and around 100 others injured. Pakistani authorities said eight militants were killed during an overnight clearance operation.