Pakistan says it struck 10 sites in Afghanistan in response to drone attack

Al-Wasat Iraqi newspaper - Islamabad

Pakistan on Thursday said it carried out air strikes targeting 10 sites inside Afghanistan that it said were being used to store and launch drones, in response to a drone attack launched from Afghan territory.

Pakistani Information Minister Attaullah Tarar said Pakistan's air defence systems detected and neutralized drones launched from Afghan territory on Wednesday before they reached their targets, and that Islamabad then carried out "precision air strikes and strikes by drones" on 10 sites.

Tarar added on X that the strikes "were limited to specific military targets" linked to attempts to carry out attacks from the Afghan side, warning that any further provocative action by the Afghan Taliban "will be met with a firm and decisive response."

The strikes come amid rising tensions between the two countries, amid growing disputes over the expanding activity of armed groups in western and northwestern Pakistan.

Islamabad accuses Kabul of harbouring Islamist militants who carry out cross-border attacks, while the Taliban government denies this and says the insurgency is an internal Pakistani problem.

Taliban officials denied that Afghan government forces had launched drones toward Pakistan, and two movement spokesmen told Reuters that the Pakistani air raids on Thursday targeted areas in Khost and Paktia provinces in southern Afghanistan, without causing casualties, according to them.

The escalation followed an attack on a police facility in northwestern Pakistan last week that killed at least 24 people, leading to a renewal of fighting between the two countries after a relative lull of about three months.

Earlier this week the Pakistani government also said it had conducted air raids in the border area with Afghanistan that it said killed 28 militants, while Taliban officials accused Islamabad of killing three civilians during night raids on Afghan territory.