Afghanistan hits ISIS targets in Balochistan, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, days after Pakistan’s cross-border airstrikes | Today’s news
Afghanistan’s ruling Taliban said on Wednesday that its forces had carried out airstrikes targeting ISIS militants in Pakistan’s neighboring Balochistan and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa provinces.
Kabul-based TOLO News, citing sources, said the drone strikes were carried out on ISIS positions and facilities used to coordinate airstrikes against civilians in Afghanistan along the border.
Afghanistan has hit ISIS targets in Pakistan
A school in the Saranan area allegedly used by ISIS and groups described as “agents of chaos and violence” was targeted by drone strikes, the report said.
IS’s regional branch, Islamic State-Khorasan, has claimed responsibility for attacks in Afghanistan in recent years that have killed civilians.
What Pakistan said
Pakistan also confirmed the attacks but claimed to have shot down “four core drones” launched across the border into Balochistan.
According to the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR), the enemy air platforms were immediately detected by Pakistan’s robust air defense network.
“The security forces demonstrated a high level of operational preparedness and successfully neutralized all the four incoming drones using sophisticated countermeasures. Due to the swift and effective response, the enemy attempts were successfully foiled,” ISPR said.
Pakistan, which nurtured and protected the Taliban after its ouster in 2001 until the insurgent group regained control of Afghanistan in 2021, accused the hardline Islamists of deceiving Afghans who “suffer under his repressive rule”.
“Such actions by the Afghan Taliban regime appear to be aimed at deceiving the Afghan population, who continue to suffer under its oppressive rule. The Taliban should realize that such irresponsible behavior only adds to the hardships faced by Afghans,” the ISPR statement added.
Pakistani Airstrikes in Afghanistan
The Afghan airstrike came days after Pakistan’s strikes on its border with Afghanistan.
Pakistani security forces said they killed at least 29 militants in ground and air operations along the border with Afghanistan, while the Afghan Taliban said at least 38 civilians were killed in airstrikes.
Pakistan accuses Afghanistan of harboring militants it accuses of plotting attacks in Pakistan. The Afghan Taliban rejects the allegations and says militancy is an internal problem in Pakistan.
In response to the airstrikes, the Afghan government issued a “strong and decisive protest” to Pakistan’s chargé d’affaires in Kabul on Monday.
According to a statement issued by the Afghan Ministry of Foreign Affairs on X, the Afghan side summoned the Pakistani diplomat and expressed its protest against what it described as the violation of Afghan airspace and the bombing of civilian homes in Kunar, Paktia and Paktika provinces.
“The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan has summoned the chargé d’affaires of the Pakistani embassy in Kabul and presented to him its strong and decisive protest against the violation of Afghanistan’s airspace and the bombing of civilian houses in the provinces of Kunar, Paktia and Paktika,” the statement said.
