Tensions between Pakistan and Afghanistan escalated further after Pakistan carried out overnight airstrikes inside Afghan territory, claiming to target military installations and militant hideouts.
According to Pakistan’s state-run Pakistan Television, the Pakistani military struck a technical support facility and an equipment storage site in southern Kandahar Province. Authorities in Islamabad said the sites were being used by Afghan Taliban fighters and militants to launch attacks against Pakistani civilians.
In another strike, Pakistani forces reportedly targeted a tunnel in Kandahar where technical equipment belonging to the Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan—which Islamabad refers to as “Fitna al-Khawarij”—was allegedly stored.
Pakistan’s military warned that such operations would continue unless the Taliban-led government in Kabul addresses Islamabad’s security concerns along the border.
However, the Taliban government rejected Pakistan’s claims. Taliban spokesperson Zabihullah Mujahid told Agence France-Presse that the Pakistani strikes only damaged a drug rehabilitation center and an empty container in Kandahar. He said the locations mentioned by Pakistan were far from the sites hit.
The latest strikes came after Pakistan condemned a drone attack allegedly launched from Afghan territory on Friday night. Pakistani President Asif Ali Zardari accused Kabul of crossing a “red line” by targeting civilians.
Pakistan said the locally made drones were intercepted before reaching their intended targets. However, debris from the destroyed drones reportedly injured civilians in Quetta, Kohat, and Rawalpindi, including two children.
Islamabad has long accused the Afghan Taliban of sheltering militants from the Islamic State’s Khorasan branch and Pakistani Taliban fighters, allegations that the Taliban authorities deny.
Clashes that began in early February have already killed nearly 99 people on both sides of the border, including soldiers and civilians. According to the United Nations, between February 26 and March 5 alone at least 185 civilians were reported killed or injured in Afghanistan. The violence has also displaced around 115,000 people.
