Pakistan said on Thursday that it carried out air and drone strikes on 10 locations in Afghanistan it said were being used to launch and store drones, a day after claiming to have shot down eight drones that entered Pakistani airspace from Afghan territory.
Taliban officials denied that their government launched drones against Pakistan on Wednesday.
Information Minister Attaullah Tarar said Pakistan’s air defence systems detected and neutralised the drones before they reached their intended targets, describing the alleged incursion as a “blatant violation” of Pakistan’s sovereignty and territorial integrity.
He said Pakistan subsequently carried out “precision aerial and drone strikes” against 10 locations linked to the alleged drone attacks.
The strikes were “deliberate, precise, calibrated and proportionate” and “strictly limited to identified military objectives directly linked to the attempted attacks against Pakistan”, Tarar wrote on X.
Pakistani security sources had said on Wednesday that eight drones launched from Afghanistan were shot down, four near the Torkham border and four in mountainous areas near Kohat. The claim was also carried by Pakistan’s state broadcaster.
Afghanistan’s Taliban authorities rejected the allegation that they had launched drones at Pakistan.
Afghan Defence Ministry spokesperson Siddiqullah Nusrat told the BBC that the Afghan air force had not carried out a drone strike and would itself determine the timing and nature of any response.
Afghan officials said Pakistani strikes hit Khost, Paktia and Kandahar early on Thursday. Kabul later said four civilians were killed in the attacks.
Mustaghfir Gurbaz, spokesperson for the Khost governor, said several areas of the province were struck at around 3:30am, including Gurbuz, Ismail Khel and Mandozai districts. He said no casualties were reported in Khost.
In Kandahar, a resident told AFP that an airstrike hit the city after a jet was heard overhead, followed by a large explosion and fire.
Taliban spokesperson Zabihullah Mujahid separately confirmed strikes in Kandahar, Paktia and Khost and warned that what he described as “reckless, careless and hostile actions” would have consequences for the Pakistani military.
The latest strikes come days after Pakistan carried out airstrikes on three locations in Afghanistan, saying 28 militants, including suicide bombers, were killed. Afghan officials said three civilians were killed and four others wounded in Kunar.
Following those strikes, Mujahid condemned what he called Pakistani “aggression” and said the Afghan people would give an “appropriate response”.
The renewed escalation comes after an attack on the Old Police Lines compound in Kohat, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, last week that killed at least 31 people, including police personnel.
Islamabad accuses Kabul of harbouring armed groups that carry out attacks inside Pakistan, while Afghanistan’s Taliban government denies the allegation and says the violence is Pakistan’s internal problem.
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