The Afghan Taliban has carried out attacks on “multiple locations” in Pakistan. This was stated in a press release issued by Afghanistan’s Ministry of Defense on Saturday (December 28). These attacks were carried out in retaliation for recent Pakistani airstrikes inside Afghanistan.
However, the Afghan Ministry of Defense did not explicitly state in its statement that Pakistan was targeted in their operations. They mentioned that the attacks were conducted “beyond imaginary borders,” a term often used by Afghan authorities to refer to their longstanding disputed border with Pakistan.
The ministry stated that several points beyond the “imaginary border” in the southeastern direction were targeted in retaliation. These locations were being used as centers by harmful elements and their supporters for organizing and executing attacks inside Afghanistan.
16 Pakistani Soldiers Killed in Taliban Attack
The ministry’s spokesperson, Enayatullah Khwarazmi, told reporters, “We do not consider this area as Pakistani territory, so we cannot confirm it. However, it was beyond the imaginary border.”
Afghanistan has long rejected the Durand Line, the border demarcated during the 19th century by British colonial authorities.
Meanwhile, on Saturday, a security source told AFP that at least one Pakistani paramilitary soldier was killed and seven others injured in a border clash with Afghan forces.
The heavy artillery clash took place overnight along the border between Pakistan’s Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province and Afghanistan’s Khost province.
Earlier, last week, Pakistan carried out airstrikes in Afghanistan’s Paktika province, killing at least 46 people. Afghan authorities reported that most of the victims were women and children.
However, Pakistani sources claimed the airstrikes targeted several hideouts of suspected Pakistani Taliban. They stated that a training center was destroyed and some insurgents were killed in the operation.
Afghanistan’s Taliban administration strongly condemned the attack, calling it a violation of international law and a blatant aggression, and warned of retaliation.