Key facts
- Afghanistan's Taliban regime conducted strikes on targets along the border with Pakistan.
- Several people were reportedly injured in Pakistan's Balochistan province.
- Pakistan's military shot down four drones and warned of retaliation.
- The strikes followed Pakistan's airstrikes on Afghanistan that killed 28 civilians, according to the UN.
- Afghanistan claimed Pakistan's earlier attack resulted in 36 civilian deaths and over 160 injured.
Afghanistan's Taliban regime announced it had conducted strikes on targets along the border with Pakistan, reportedly injuring several people in the southwestern province of Balochistan. Pakistan's military responded by stating it had shot down four rudimentary drones and issued a warning that any further provocation would be met with a strong response. The BBC has not independently verified the claims from either side.
These cross-border strikes follow Pakistan's own airstrikes into Afghanistan on Sunday, which the UN reported killed 28 civilians. Afghanistan, however, claimed the Pakistani attack hit civilian homes, resulting in 36 deaths and over 160 injuries, describing it as a "cowardly act" and an "atrocity."
Pakistan stated its operation targeted militant hideouts in Afghanistan's Paktia, Paktika, and Kunar provinces, with its information minister, Attaullah Tarar, asserting that 29 militants were killed in response to recent terrorist attacks. Tensions between the two nations have escalated significantly after a period of relative calm, despite a ceasefire agreement reached in October following earlier deadly clashes. Pakistan has historically accused Afghanistan of harboring terrorists, a claim the Taliban government denies, while Kabul accuses Islamabad of unprovoked attacks on civilians.