Pakistan · updated 1h ago · 3 min read
Pakistan Strikes 10 Afghan Drone Sites, Taliban Says Four Civilians Killed
Pakistan carried out air and drone strikes on 10 locations in Afghanistan believed to store and launch drones. Afghan authorities say four civilians were killed in the strikes.
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Hindustan Times
“Pakistan's airstrikes reportedly target Afghan provinces, leading to civilian casualties”Read the original ↗
One report says Khost had no casualties while others foreground civilian deaths.
Airstrikes, Drone Claims
Pakistan carried out air and drone strikes on 10 locations in Afghanistan that it said were used to store and launch drones, with Pakistan’s Information Minister Attaullah Tarar describing the action as “deliberate, precise, calibrated, and proportionate, and strictly limited to identified military objectives directly linked to the attempted attacks against Pakistan”. Afghan Taliban government spokesperson Zabihullah Mujahid said Pakistani air strikes targeted Kandahar, Paktia and Khost provinces and killed four civilians, while Mujahid also vowed an “appropriate response”. Pakistan said the strikes were carried out after it accused Afghanistan of launching drones and shelling Pakistani border posts following a foiled cross-border infiltration attempt by militants, and Pakistan’s officials said they neutralized eight rudimentary drones before they could enter the northwestern city of Kohat and the border town of Torkham.
The escalation threatened international mediation efforts by China, Turkey, Qatar and Saudi Arabia to broker a lasting peace between Kabul and Islamabad, as the two sides traded denials about drone attacks and hostile actions. The latest flare-up followed earlier fighting in February and came after an attack on a police facility in northwestern Pakistan that killed at least 21 people, which a Pakistan Taliban faction claimed responsibility for.
Competing Narratives
Zabihullah Mujahid rejected Pakistan’s claims of drone attacks and warned of “consequences” for Pakistan over its airstrikes, while Mujahid also condemned the strikes as “These shameless acts of aggression and attacks by the Pakistani military regime will be met with an appropriate response,” according to a statement carried in the report. Attaullah Tarar said Pakistan’s air defense systems detected, tracked, and neutralized all intruding platforms before they could reach their targets, and Tarar also condemned a “deliberate and unlawful incursion into Pakistan by drones” on Wednesday. The accounts diverged on the strike effects, as Afghan government spokesperson Zabihullah Mujahid said the airstrikes killed four civilians, while Pakistan said it carried out strikes with no casualties reported in one account of the Kandahar attack.
The reporting also described a resident in Kandahar city hearing a jet, then a large explosion, followed by a fire in the centre of Kandahar city, after which the resident told AFP that an air strike hit the city. The escalation came as Pakistani officials described artillery fire targeting Taliban border posts, mortar sites and defensive positions, while the UN mission in Afghanistan confirmed civilian casualties and Kabul formally protested the attack.
Mediation at Risk
The latest confrontation threatened mediation efforts by China, Turkey, Qatar and Saudi Arabia, as the two neighbours had already seen their worst clashes in years in February and later agreed to a truce that did not prevent renewed escalation. Pakistan’s Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar expressed concern on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly in New York about what he said was the presence of more than two dozen anti-Pakistani militant groups in Afghanistan, while Islamabad continued to accuse Kabul of harbouring fighters who stage cross-border attacks. The reporting tied the stakes to the dispute over armed groups operating from Afghan territory, as Pakistan accused the Afghan Taliban regime of allowing militants to operate from its territory and carry out attacks across the border, while Kabul denied harbouring anti-Pakistani armed groups and said attacks were Pakistan’s internal problem.
The conflict also intersected with earlier violence in Pakistan, as a suicide bombing and subsequent gunbattle at a police compound in Kohat killed at least 21 people, and the group Ittehad-ul-Mujahideen Pakistan claimed responsibility. The sources said the deterioration since the Taliban returned to power in 2021 has kept the two sides from reaching a lasting agreement, even as UNAMA documented more than 1,100 civilian deaths and injuries resulting from cross-border armed violence in Afghanistan so far in 2026.