Web Desk: Pakistan carried out air and drone strikes on 10 locations inside Afghanistan early Thursday, saying the operation targeted sites used to launch and store drones involved in an attempted cross-border attack, as tensions between Islamabad and the Afghan Taliban continued to escalate.
Pakistan’s Information Minister Attaullah Tarar said the strikes were conducted in response to drones that entered Pakistani airspace from Afghanistan a day earlier. He said Pakistan’s air-defence systems detected and neutralised the drones before they could reach their intended targets.
Afghan officials and local sources reported strikes in several areas, including Khost, Kandahar and Paktia.
In Khost, Taliban provincial spokesman Mustaghfir Gurbaz said Pakistani aircraft struck areas in Gurbaz district, including the Galano camp, as well as locations near Khost city and parts of Ismail Khel and Mandozai districts. He said there were no casualties from the reported strikes.
A strike was also reported in Kandahar city. A local resident told AFP that residents heard a military aircraft before a large explosion, followed by a fire. Afghan authorities said the strike hit an open area in the city’s ninth district and reported no casualties.
Reports from Paktia also indicated that a Taliban military compound was among the locations hit, although details remained limited.
Islamabad said the strikes were a direct response to the attempted drone attack.
According to Pakistani officials, eight drones entered Pakistani airspace from Afghanistan on Wednesday. Security sources said four were intercepted near the Torkham border while another four were brought down near Kohat.
Tarar said the subsequent operation targeted 10 locations associated with launching and storing drones. He described the strikes as limited to what Pakistan identified as military objectives connected to the attempted attacks.
Pakistan has also accused terrorist groups operating from Afghanistan of carrying out attacks inside the country. The Taliban government has rejected Islamabad’s allegations that it provides sanctuary to anti-Pakistani terrorists and has described Pakistan’s military actions inside Afghanistan as violations of Afghan sovereignty.
Amid reports surrounding the latest operation, claims have circulated that senior terrorist commander Abdul Wali Dawar was killed. However, as of Thursday, the claim has not been independently confirmed by Reuters, AP or other major international news agencies.
The available reporting on Thursday’s strikes confirms the locations targeted and Pakistan’s stated rationale for the operation, but does not independently establish that Dawar was among those killed. The identity and status of any terrorist casualties therefore remain unconfirmed.
The latest operation follows another round of Pakistani airstrikes earlier this week in Afghanistan’s Paktika and Kunar provinces. Pakistan said those strikes killed 28 terrorists, while Afghan authorities and the United Nations reported that three civilians were killed.
The renewed escalation came after a series of cross-border security incidents, including Pakistan’s reported interception of drones entering its territory and a deadly terrorist attack on a police facility in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.
Pakistan says it has repeatedly urged the Taliban authorities to prevent Afghan territory from being used for attacks against Pakistan. Kabul, meanwhile, has rejected the accusations and called for an end to Pakistani military operations inside Afghanistan.
With strikes now reported beyond the immediate border region, including in Kandahar, the latest developments underscore the widening security dispute between Islamabad and Kabul and raise fresh concerns about further cross-border escalation.
Read more: Pakistan carries out precision strikes in Paktika, Kandahar
