Afghanistan’s Ministry of Defence said on Friday that its air force carried out overnight strikes on Daesh-linked centres in parts of Balochistan and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, while Pakistan denied the claim and said a drone from Afghanistan had been shot down after entering Pakistani airspace.
In a statement, the Afghan ministry said the strikes targeted locations in Gulistan and Shakarab in Balochistan, as well as Qambar Khel in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.
The ministry said the operation was carried out against centres from where, according to the statement, attacks against Afghanistan were being planned and coordinated.
“These bases, allegedly used in cooperation with certain hostile intelligence circles to plan and organise attacks against Afghanistan, had previously served as staging grounds for several deadly attacks,” the Afghan ministry said.
“According to preliminary information, the operation successfully hit its key pre-designated targets,” it added.
The Afghan Ministry of Defence said Afghanistan would not tolerate threats to its national security and stability, adding that it would use all available capabilities to eliminate such threats.
The statement further said every possible measure would be taken to protect Afghan territory and people, and that operations against anti-state elements would continue.
Pakistan’s Information Ministry denied the Afghan claim, saying a “rudimentary drone” from Afghanistan had entered Pakistani airspace but was immediately identified and shot down.
“The claims are false, as usual. Terrorist camps… are factually located, run and patronised from inside the territories under the control of the Afghan Taliban regime,” the ministry said in a post on X.