Afghanistan’s Taliban-led government says it has carried out strikes on targets along its border with Pakistan, escalating tensions between the two neighbouring countries following recent Pakistani military operations inside Afghanistan.
According to Taliban authorities, the strikes targeted locations in Pakistan’s southwestern province of Balochistan and injured several people. Pakistan’s military said it had intercepted and shot down four rudimentary drones and warned that any additional provocation would receive a “befitting response.” Independent verification of the incident has not been possible.
The latest exchange of fire comes just days after Pakistan launched air strikes inside Afghanistan on Sunday. The United Nations reported that the attacks killed 28 civilians, while Afghan authorities have put the death toll even higher.
The renewed hostilities have ended months of relative calm between the two countries. Islamabad and Kabul had agreed to a ceasefire in October after weeks of deadly border clashes that claimed dozens of lives.
Pakistan has consistently accused Afghanistan of providing safe haven to militants responsible for attacks on Pakistani territory, allegations that the Taliban government strongly denies. Kabul, meanwhile, has accused Pakistan of carrying out unprovoked military actions that kill civilians, charges Islamabad rejects, insisting its operations only target militant groups.
Afghan officials said Sunday’s Pakistani strikes hit residential areas and claimed that 36 civilians were killed and more than 160 people were injured. The Taliban government condemned the operation, describing it as a “cowardly act” and an “atrocity.”
Pakistan said its military operation involved both ground assaults and air strikes targeting militant hideouts in the Afghan provinces of Paktia, Paktika and Kunar.
Pakistan’s Information Minister, Attaullah Tarar, stated that 29 militants were killed during the operation, which he said was launched in response to recent terrorist attacks against civilians in Pakistan.
The casualty figures provided by both governments have not been independently confirmed.
Cross-border violence between Afghanistan and Pakistan has intensified in recent months, with intermittent clashes and air strikes causing significant casualties on both sides of the frontier.
In February, border fighting reportedly left dozens of people dead. In March, a Pakistani strike on a drug rehabilitation centre in Kabul allegedly killed hundreds of people. Earlier in June, Pakistan conducted another round of air strikes that it said killed 26 militants, while the Taliban government reported that 13 civilians, most of them children, also died.
The latest confrontation has heightened fears of a broader escalation between the two neighbours, whose already fragile relations continue to be strained by security concerns, militant activity and recurring accusations over cross-border attacks.
