Afghan Taliban Attacks Pakistani Posts In Retaliation For Airstrikes That Killed 46
In a major escalation, Afghan Taliban forces targeted “several points” in Pakistan.
Afghanistan’s defence ministry said on Saturday, days after Pakistani aircraft carried out aerial bombardment inside Afghanistan. The statement from Taliban’s Defence Ministry did not specify Pakistan but said the strikes were conducted “beyond the ‘hypothetical line'” – an expression used by Afghan authorities to refer to a border with Pakistan that they have long disputed.
“Several points beyond the hypothetical line, serving as centres and hideouts for malicious elements and their supporters who organised and coordinated attacks in Afghanistan, were targeted in retaliation from the southeastern direction of the country,” the ministry said.
Sources close to the Taliban told News18 that multiple attacks have been launched on Pakistani posts in border areas. Afghan Taliban officials claimed that the attacks on Pakistani posts in Kurram and North Waziristan tribal districts have resulted in casualties, although no official number is confirmed yet.
One of the officials also confirmed that the attacks were conducted in retaliation for Pakistan’s recent airstrikes. Locals in Kurram also confirmed that the firing started early Saturday, with both sides using heavy weaponry.
According to Taliban social media posts, Afghan forces targeted Pakistani positions from Khost. Sources indicated that the situation will worsen if Pakistan keeps attacking Afghan soil like on Wednesday.
The Pakistani military’s public relations wing and a spokesperson for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
Pakistan conducted a series of airstrikes targeting “terrorist hideouts” allegedly linked to the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan, a militant group responsible for several deadly attacks in the country. Taliban government spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid said the attacks on the eastern Paktika province killed 46 people, mostly women and children.
Afghanistan has for decades rejected the border, known as the Durand Line, drawn by British colonial authorities in the 19th century through the mountainous and often lawless tribal belt between what is now Afghanistan and Pakistan.
Afghan authorities warned on Wednesday they would retaliate after the Pakistani bombardment, which they said had killed civilians. Islamabad said it had targeted hideouts of Islamist militants along the border. “The Islamic Emirate will not leave this cowardly act unanswered, but rather considers the defence of its territory and sovereignty to be its inalienable right,” the statement said, using the Taliban authorities’ name for the government.
Earlier, a Pakistani paramilitary soldier was killed and seven others wounded in cross-border exchanges of fire with Afghanistan’s forces, a security source said Saturday, while hundreds of Afghans protested against the deadly air strikes that sparked the clashes.
The neighbours have a strained relationship, with Pakistan saying that several militant attacks that have occurred in its country have been launched from Afghan soil – a charge the Afghan Taliban denies.