Afghanistan’s Taliban authorities mentioned on Friday that its forces carried out airstrikes on militant hideouts in Pakistan’s Balochistan and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa provinces, a declare swiftly rejected by Islamabad. In an announcement posted on X, Afghanistan’s defence ministry mentioned the Afghan Air Power focused militant positions within the two Pakistani provinces on Thursday night time. The ministry didn’t specify how the operation was carried out.“These bases, allegedly utilized in cooperation with sure hostile intelligence circles to plan and arrange assaults towards Afghanistan, had beforehand served as staging grounds for a number of lethal assaults,” the ministry mentioned.“In response to preliminary info, the operation efficiently hit its key pre-designated targets,” it added, with out offering particulars on casualties or injury.Pakistan’s info ministry rejected the assertion, saying no such strikes had taken place and that solely a drone from Afghanistan had entered Pakistani airspace earlier than being intercepted.“The claims are false, as traditional. Terrorist camps… are factually positioned, run and patronised from contained in the territories beneath the management of the Afghan Taliban regime,” the ministry mentioned in a submit on X.The Afghan announcement represents Kabul’s first main offensive motion towards Pakistan in months and comes amid worsening relations between the 2 international locations, which have exchanged accusations over cross-border militancy.In response to knowledge from the London-based Worldwide Institute for Strategic Research, Afghanistan doesn’t possess fighter jets however is believed to function at the least six plane and 23 helicopters. Taliban forces are additionally identified to have drones which have beforehand been utilized in clashes with Pakistan.Islamabad has repeatedly accused Kabul of sheltering militants chargeable for assaults inside Pakistan. The Taliban administration has denied the allegations, insisting that militancy is Pakistan’s inner drawback.Relations between the 2 international locations have deteriorated sharply this yr, with lots of reportedly killed in border-related violence and army exchanges. Efforts by China to mediate and ease tensions have to this point failed to supply a breakthrough.The most recent claims come simply days after Pakistan carried out airstrikes in Afghan territory. The Taliban authorities mentioned these strikes killed at the least 13 folks, together with 11 kids, and injured 14 others.Pakistan, nevertheless, mentioned the “calibrated strikes” killed 26 militants and had been launched in response to a latest surge in assaults within the nation’s northwest.The competing claims underscore the deepening distrust between Islamabad and Kabul, with either side persevering with responsible one another for instability and militant violence alongside the shared border.
