- Afghan forces struck Pakistan border, injuring several, targeting IS-K.
- Pakistan shot down drones, warned response; follows earlier Pakistani strikes.
- Renewed cross-border strikes heighten security concerns and mutual accusations.
Afghanistan’s Taliban forces carried out fresh strikes on targets along the Pakistan border on Wednesday, injuring several people in Pakistan’s southwestern Balochistan province and marking another sharp escalation in tensions between the neighbouring countries.
Afghanistan’s armed forces said the strikes targeted sites in Pakistan’s Balochistan and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa provinces that were allegedly being used as bases by the Islamic State Khorasan (IS-K), an affiliate of the Islamic State group.
According to Afghanistan-based TOLOnews, the Afghan defence ministry said the targeted locations were being used to plan sabotage operations and attacks against civilians inside Afghanistan. It added that the strikes were carried out with precision, inflicting heavy casualties and significant material losses on the group while causing no civilian casualties.
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Pakistan Says Drones Shot Down, Warns of Response
Pakistan’s military said it had shot down four rudimentary drones following the cross-border strikes and warned that any further provocation “would receive a befitting response”.
The latest exchange comes only days after Pakistan conducted airstrikes inside Afghanistan that killed at least 28 civilians, according to Afghan authorities. Islamabad, however, maintained that those killed in the operation were militants.
The renewed military action has heightened concerns over the fragile security situation along the Afghanistan-Pakistan border, where both countries have repeatedly accused each other of harbouring militant groups.
India Condemns Pakistan’s Earlier Airstrikes
Earlier this week, India criticised Pakistan’s airstrikes in Afghanistan, describing them as “reckless” and a “blatant act of aggression” that endangered regional peace and stability.
In a statement issued on Monday, India’s Ministry of External Affairs said it “strongly condemns” the Pakistani airstrikes carried out on Afghan territory during the intervening night of Sunday and Monday. Pakistan had said those strikes targeted terrorist hideouts.
India said the attacks resulted in civilian casualties, including women and children, and described them as an assault on Afghanistan’s sovereignty. The statement also accused Pakistan of attempting to externalise its internal challenges through cross-border military action.
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Months of Relative Calm Give Way to Renewed Clashes
The latest hostilities have reignited tensions after several months of relative calm. Afghanistan and Pakistan had agreed to a ceasefire in October following weeks of deadly clashes along the border.
Despite the agreement, intermittent cross-border exchanges and airstrikes have continued to claim lives in recent months, according to officials from both countries.
In February, border clashes left dozens of people dead. Earlier in June, Pakistan launched airstrikes that it said killed 26 militants. Afghanistan’s Taliban administration, however, said 13 people, most of them children, were also killed in those strikes.
