Pakistan Strikes 10 Afghan Sites After Drone Incursion, Minister Says
ISLAMABAD, PAKISTAN — WEB DESK: Pakistan carried out air and drone strikes against 10 locations inside Afghanistan early Thursday after accusing drones launched from Afghan territory of entering Pakistani airspace a day earlier, Information Minister Attaullah Tarar said, marking a further escalation in tensions between Islamabad and Kabul.
Tarar said the targeted locations had been used for launching and storing drones involved in the September 23 incursion. He described Pakistan’s response as an exercise of the country’s right to self-defence.
According to the minister, the strikes were “deliberate, precise, calibrated and proportionate” and restricted to identified military objectives linked to the attempted drone attacks. That assessment is the Pakistani government’s account of the operation and had not been independently verified at the time of reporting.
Pakistan said its air-defence systems had detected and neutralised all of the incoming drones before they could reach their intended targets. Express Urdu reported that eight drones were intercepted on Wednesday — four near the Torkham border and four in mountainous areas near Kohat.
Pakistani security sources attributed the drones to Afghanistan’s Taliban authorities and alleged that they were intended to target public areas. Afghanistan’s Taliban government, however, denied on Wednesday that its forces had carried out attacks against Pakistan, according to reporting by the Associated Press. The drones’ precise origin and intended targets therefore remain disputed.
Pakistan Says Strikes Limited to Military Targets
Tarar said Islamabad had repeatedly raised concerns with Afghanistan’s Taliban authorities over what Pakistan describes as militant sanctuaries and support networks operating on Afghan soil.
Pakistan’s government said Thursday’s strikes were restricted to facilities directly associated with the alleged drone operation and described the action as proportionate to the attempted attack.
There was no immediate independently verified assessment of casualties or damage from Thursday’s strikes in the sources reviewed.
The operation comes only days after Pakistan conducted a separate series of strikes inside Afghanistan.
On September 21, Islamabad said strikes against three targets in Afghanistan killed 28 people it described as militants and suicide bombers.
Afghan authorities disputed Pakistan’s account and said civilians were among those killed. The United Nations confirmed that at least three civilians — a man, a woman and a girl — were killed in those earlier strikes.
Afghanistan’s Taliban government condemned the September 21 strikes as a violation of its sovereignty and summoned Pakistan’s chargé d’affaires. Taliban spokesperson Zabihullah Mujahid also said Afghanistan would respond to the attacks.
Cross-Border Tensions Escalate
Relations between Pakistan and Afghanistan have deteriorated amid repeated cross-border incidents and militant attacks.
Islamabad says armed groups, particularly the banned Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan, have used sanctuaries inside Afghanistan to organise attacks in Pakistan. Kabul has rejected accusations that it permits Afghan territory to be used for attacks against neighbouring countries.
The latest escalation follows a deadly September 18 attack on a police compound in Kohat, where a suicide bombing and subsequent gun battle killed security personnel and civilians. Pakistani authorities subsequently linked their cross-border military response to the growing militant threat.
Thursday’s operation represents another significant escalation because Pakistan has now publicly acknowledged conducting air and drone strikes against 10 sites inside Afghanistan immediately following the reported drone incursion.
The situation remains developing. Independent confirmation is still needed regarding the precise targets, casualties and damage from the latest Pakistani strikes, as well as the origin and intended targets of Wednesday’s eight drones.
