Afghanistan’s military authorities have said they have begun carrying out strikes against Pakistan in response to recent Pakistani airstrikes on Afghan territory.In a statement issued by the media office of a military corps in eastern Afghanistan, officials said “heavy clashes” broke out on Thursday night.
The fighting, they said, was “in response to the recent airstrikes carried out by Pakistani forces in Nangarhar and Paktia” provinces, according to news agency AP.There was no immediate confirmation from Pakistan, and no details were available on casualties at the time of reporting.
Trigger: Cross-border airstrikes
The latest escalation follows Pakistani military strikes along the border with Afghanistan on Sunday. Pakistan’s military said it had killed at least 70 militants in those operations.Kabul rejected that claim, insisting that the air raids had instead killed dozens of civilians, including women and children.Afghanistan’s government spokesperson Zabihullah Mujahid said on X: “Last night, they bombed our civilian compatriots in Nangarhar and Paktika provinces, martyring and wounding dozens of people, including women and children.”Afghanistan’s defence ministry also said that “dozens of innocent civilians, including women and children, were martyred and wounded” after airstrikes hit a school and residential homes in eastern provinces.Afghan media outlet Tolo News reported that a civilian house in Behsud district of Nangarhar province was targeted, with 23 members of a family reportedly buried under rubble. The broadcaster also said the Pakistani Air Force struck a religious seminary in Bermal district of Paktika province and carried out multiple airstrikes in Khogyani district of Nangarhar.Pakistan confirmed that it had conducted cross-border strikes in Bermal and Argun districts of Paktika, as well as in Khogyani, Bahsod and Ghani Khel districts of Nangarhar since Saturday.
Pakistan cites militant targets
Islamabad said the operations were aimed at militant groups it blames for a series of recent suicide attacks inside Pakistan.Geo News, citing Pakistan’s ministry of information, reported that seven camps and hideouts of Fitna al Khwarij (a term used by Pakistan for the banned Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan), its affiliates and Daesh Khorasan Province were hit. The ministry described the action as carried out “with precision and accuracy” in response to suicide attacks in Islamabad, Bajaur and Bannu during Ramadan.Pakistan’s state minister for interior, Talal Chaudhry, said the country had “conclusive evidence” that recent attacks — including a suicide bombing at a Shiite mosque in Islamabad that killed 31 worshippers — were carried out by militants acting on the direction of Afghanistan-based leadership and handlers.The Pakistani government has repeatedly urged Afghanistan’s Taliban authorities to prevent militant groups from using Afghan soil to launch attacks, and has called on the international community to press Kabul to honour commitments under the Doha Agreement.
Rising tensions on both sides
The cross-border strikes came days after a suicide bomber drove an explosives-laden vehicle 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 those incidents, Pakistan’s military warned it would not “exercise any restraint” and would continue operations against those responsible “irrespective of their location”, signalling growing tensions between Islamabad and Kabul.Afghanistan has consistently denied allegations that armed groups are using its territory to carry out attacks against Pakistan.India also reacted to the situation. Ministry of external affairs said it “strongly condemns Pakistan’s airstrikes on Afghan territory that have resulted in civilian casualties, including women and children, during the holy month of Ramadan.”Relations between Pakistan and Afghanistan have remained strained in recent months, with earlier border clashes resulting in casualties among soldiers, civilians and suspected militants on both sides. The latest exchanges now mark one of the most serious escalations between the two neighbours in recent times.
