Pakistan carried out air strikes on 10 locations in Afghanistan on Thursday, saying the raids targeted sites used to store and launch drones linked to cross-border attacks against Pakistan.
Pakistani Information Minister Attaullah Tarar described the strikes as "deliberate, precise, calibrated, and proportionate, and strictly limited to identified military objectives directly linked to the attempted attacks against Pakistan."
Islamabad said the action was a retaliation for what it called a drone incursion by Afghan Taliban forces into Pakistani territory on Wednesday. Tarar condemned what he described as a "deliberate and unlawful incursion into Pakistan by drones," adding: "This constitutes a blatant violation of Pakistan's sovereignty and territorial integrity and is a grave and unacceptable act of aggression."
Taliban government spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid denied that Kabul had launched drones against Pakistan. He said the Pakistani strikes hit Kandahar, Paktia and Khost provinces, killing at least four civilians, and promised an "appropriate response."
A resident in Kandahar city told sources that an air strike hit the city in southern Afghanistan. The resident said they heard a jet, then a large explosion, followed by a fire in the centre of Kandahar city.
The strikes come amid sharply rising tensions between the two former allies. An attack on a police facility in northwestern Pakistan last week killed at least 21 people, reigniting hostilities after nearly three months of relative calm. A Pakistan Taliban faction claimed responsibility for the blast and the subsequent gun battle.
On Monday, air raids targeting three locations in northeastern Afghanistan killed three civilians in the Nurgal district of Kunar province, according to Afghan officials. Islamabad said the strikes killed 28 "terrorists."
Thursday's raids mark a further escalation in a conflict that saw its worst fighting in years in February. Pakistan accuses Kabul of harbouring fighters who stage cross-border attacks. Afghanistan's Taliban government denies sheltering anti-Pakistani armed groups and maintains that the attacks are Pakistan's internal problem.
The escalating violence threatens mediation efforts by China, Turkey, Qatar and Saudi Arabia, which have been working to broker a lasting peace between the two neighbours.
