Afghan military authorities said they had begun strikes against Pakistan in response to recent Pakistani air strikes on Afghan territory.A statement from a military media office in eastern Afghanistan said officials said “violent clashes” broke out late Thursday.
They said the fighting was “in response to recent air strikes by the Pakistani military in Nangarhar and Paktia provinces,” according to the Associated Press.Pakistan did not immediately confirm the news and there were no details on casualties at the time of reporting.
Trigger: Cross-border air strikes
The latest escalation came on Sunday when Pakistan launched a military attack on the Afghan border. The Pakistani military said it killed at least 70 militants in these operations.Kabul denies the claims, insisting the strikes killed dozens of civilians, including women and children.“Last night they bombed our fellow civilians in Nangarhar and Paktika provinces, martyring and injuring dozens of people, including women and children,” Afghan government spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid said on X.The Afghan Defense Ministry also said “dozens of innocent civilians, including women and children, were killed or injured” after airstrikes hit a school and homes in the eastern province.Afghan media “Tolo News” reported that a house was attacked in the Besud area of Nangarhar Province, and 23 members of a family were reportedly buried under the rubble. The broadcaster also said that the Pakistan Air Force attacked a religious seminary in the Bemar district of Paktika province and carried out multiple air strikes in the Khojani district of Nangarhar province.Pakistan confirmed it had carried out cross-border attacks since Saturday in the Belmar and Ergun districts of Paktika and the Khojani, Basod and Ghanikal districts of Nangarhar.
Pakistan calls it militancy target
Islamabad said the operations targeted the militant group it blames for a recent series of suicide attacks in Pakistan.“Fitna al Khwarij” (Pakistan’s term for the banned Taliban group) and its affiliates and seven camps and hideouts in Daesh’s Khorasan province were attacked, Geo News reported, citing Pakistan’s Information Ministry. The ministry said the operation was “precise and accurate” and came in response to suicide attacks in Islamabad, Bajaur and Bannu during the holy month of Ramadan.Talal Chaudhry, Pakistan’s minister of state for the interior, said the country had “conclusive evidence” that recent attacks – including a suicide bombing at a Shia mosque in Islamabad that killed 31 worshipers – were carried out by militants on the instructions of leadership and managers in Afghanistan.The Pakistani government has repeatedly urged the Afghan Taliban authorities to prevent armed groups from using Afghan territory to launch attacks, and called on the international community to put pressure on Kabul to fulfill its commitments in the Doha Agreement.
Tensions rise between the two sides
A few days ago, a suicide bomber drove a vehicle packed with explosives into a security post in Bajaur district of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, killing 11 soldiers and a child. Authorities later said the attacker was an Afghan national.Another suicide bombing in Bannu killed two soldiers, including a lieutenant colonel.Following the incidents, Pakistan’s military warned it would not “exercise any restraint” and would continue to take action against the perpetrators “wherever they are”, a sign of growing tensions between Islamabad and Kabul.Afghanistan has always denied accusations that armed groups have used its territory to launch attacks against Pakistan.India also reacted to the matter. The foreign ministry said it “strongly condemns Pakistan’s air strikes on Afghan territory during Ramadan, which resulted in civilian casualties, including women and children.”Relations between Pakistan and Afghanistan have remained tense in recent months, with earlier border clashes resulting in casualties among soldiers, civilians and suspected militants on both sides. The latest exchange marks one of the most serious escalations between the two neighbors in recent years.
