At least four killed in fresh Pakistani airstrikes on Afghanistan

At least four people were killed in fresh Pakistani airstrikes inside three Afghan provinces.

The strikes were reported in Kandahar, Paktia and Khost provinces, according to Afghan government spokesperson Zabihullah Mujahid, Anadolu Agency reports.

Pakistan’s Information Minister Attaullah Tarar said Islamabad had carried out precision air and drone strikes against 10 locations in Afghanistan after detecting and neutralizing drones launched from Afghan territory.

Tarar said the drone incursions into Pakistani airspace occurred on September 23, describing them as a “blatant violation” of Pakistan’s sovereignty and territorial integrity.

Pakistani security sources said at least eight drones were neutralized near the Torkham border crossing and in the Kohat area of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, which borders Afghanistan.

Pakistan’s air defence systems detected, tracked and neutralized all the drones before they could reach their intended targets, Tarar said.

“In exercise of its sovereign right to self-defence, Pakistan conducted precision aerial and drone strikes against 10 locations in Afghanistan used for launching and storing these drones,” he said.

Tarar described the strikes as “deliberate, precise, calibrated and proportionate,” saying they were strictly limited to identified military targets that Pakistan said were directly linked to the attempted attacks.

He called on the Afghan Taliban to immediately cease hostile activity against Pakistan and take “effective, concrete, verifiable and sustained action against terrorist entities" operating from Afghan territory.

The strikes marked the second time this week that Pakistan has carried out airstrikes inside Afghanistan. Kabul said three people were killed in an earlier strike in Kunar province on September 21.

Islamabad had previously said it struck militant hideouts along the Afghan border following two “terrorist attacks” inside Pakistan over the weekend that killed 30 people, including 18 police officers, six civilians and six soldiers.

By Vafa Guliyeva