2nd Pakistan attack on Afghanistan this week: Kandahar hit as tensions with Taliban soar
&imwidth=600&imheight=450&format=webp&quality=medium "2nd Pakistan attack on Afghanistan this week: Kandahar hit as tensions with Taliban soar")
File image for representation Photograph: (AFP)
Pakistan launched its second wave of precision air and drone strikes across 10 Afghan locations, including Kandahar, retaliating against cross-border drone and shelling attacks amid escalating border tensions.
Pakistan carried out air and drone strikes on 10 locations in Afghanistan on Thursday, including an attack reported in Kandahar, the hometown of Taliban Supreme Leader Hibatullah Akhundzada, as tensions between the two neighbours escalated further. A resident of Kandahar told AFP that they heard a jet followed by a large explosion and later saw a fire in the centre of the city. Pakistan did not specify the locations of the targets in its initial statement.
The strikes came just days after Pakistan carried out airstrikes in eastern Afghanistan, in what marked the second such attack this week.
Why did Pakistan strike Afghanistan?
Pakistan's Information Minister Attaullah Tarar said the latest strikes were carried out in response to what Islamabad described as attacks launched from Afghan territory. Tarar said on X that the Afghan Taliban had fired eight drones into Pakistan and shelled border areas on Wednesday. He said Pakistani forces then conducted "precision aerial and drone strikes" against 10 locations allegedly used to launch and store drones.
"The strikes were deliberate, precise, calibrated and proportionate and strictly limited to identified military objectives directly linked to the attempted attacks against Pakistan," Tarar said. Pakistan has repeatedly accused the Taliban government of allowing militant groups, particularly the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), to operate from Afghan territory. Kabul has denied the allegations.
Tarar said Pakistan would not accept attacks launched from Afghanistan, whether by militant groups or by the Taliban government itself.
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Kandahar among areas hit
While Pakistan did not name the locations targeted, Afghan officials and local sources reported strikes in several areas. AFP reported that Pakistani jets struck the 203rd Mansouri Corps in Afghanistan's Paktia province, according to provincial governor spokesman Mohammad Rasool Ahmadi.
Airstrikes also targeted Khost province, although the governor's spokesman Mustaghfa Gurbaz said there were no casualties there. The reported strike on Kandahar is significant because the city is home to the Taliban leadership and is the hometown of Supreme Leader Hibatullah Akhundzada.
Afghanistan responds
The Taliban government has condemned Pakistan's military action and accused Islamabad of violating Afghan sovereignty. Afghan officials have previously vowed to respond to Pakistani strikes. After Pakistan's airstrikes earlier this week, Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid said Afghanistan would respond to what he called the aggression.
