Pakistan air strikes in Afghanistan kill 4 civilians, Kabul says

Pakistan said its air force struck 10 locations in Afghanistan on Thursday, targeting sites it said were used to launch and store drones, including some allegedly deployed in attacks against Pakistan a day earlier, marking another escalation between the two neighbouring countries.

Kabul, however, said the strikes killed four civilians.

Relations between the two Muslim-majority neighbours have deteriorated over growing insurgent activity along their western and northwestern border.

Islamabad has accused Kabul of sheltering Islamist militants responsible for cross-border attacks, while Afghanistan’s Taliban government rejects the allegations and maintains that militancy is an internal Pakistani issue.

Pakistan’s Information Minister Attaullah Tarar said the country’s air defence systems detected drones launched from Afghan territory on Wednesday. He said the drones were tracked and neutralised before reaching their intended targets.

In response, Pakistan carried out “precision aerial and drone strikes” at 10 locations, which Tarar said were confined to “identified military objectives” connected to the attempted attacks.

“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 on Wednesday.

Zabihullah Mujahid, the Taliban’s chief spokesperson, said Thursday’s strikes targeted areas in Kandahar, Paktia and Khost provinces. He warned that Afghanistan would respond appropriately.

“Such reckless, careless, and hostile actions will undoubtedly provoke the anger of the Afghan people and will have adverse consequences for the Pakistani military,” he said in a statement.

The latest confrontation follows an attack on a police facility in northwestern Pakistan last week that killed at least 24 people, reigniting hostilities after nearly three months of relative calm.

Earlier this week, Pakistan’s government also said it had carried out airstrikes in the Afghanistan-Pakistan border region, killing 28 militants. Afghan Taliban officials, meanwhile, accused Islamabad of killing three civilians in overnight strikes on Afghan territory.

The deadliest incident took place in March, when more than 400 people were reportedly killed in a Pakistani airstrike on Kabul. Afghan Taliban authorities said the strike hit a drug rehabilitation centre.

Islamabad denied the allegation, saying its forces had “precisely targeted military installations and terrorist support infrastructure.”