Zabihullah Mujahid, the spokesperson for the Taliban government, stated on Wednesday that Afghan Taliban forces did not carry out any attacks against Pakistan. This denial comes amidst rising tensions between the two nations, although no specific incidents were referenced in Mujahid’s comments.
Pakistan said early Thursday that it had carried out airstrikes on 10 sites in Afghanistan that it said were used to launch drone attacks against Pakistan. The announcement came after Pakistani officials said Afghan Taliban forces had launched eight rudimentary drones and shelled Pakistani border posts after Pakistani troops foiled what they described as an attempted cross-border infiltration by militants.
Pakistan’s information minister Attaullah Tarar said the strikes targeted sites linked to what Pakistan described as attempted attacks from Afghan territory. He said the strikes were “deliberate, precise, calibrated, and proportionate” and limited to military objectives.
The attempted infiltration took place near Afghan border posts in Paktia and Nangarhar provinces, according to four Pakistani officials. There was no immediate response from Kabul to the latest Pakistani strikes. The militants were described by Islamabad as Fitna-ul-Khawarij, a term it uses for the Pakistani Taliban, or Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP).
Taliban government spokesperson Zabihullah Mujahid had denied on Wednesday that Afghan Taliban forces carried out attacks against Pakistan.
Escalation at Pakistan-Afghanistan Border
Recent reports indicate that Afghan Taliban forces allegedly supported militants attempting to infiltrate Pakistan, subsequently firing mortars and heavy weapons at Pakistani border posts after the infiltration was thwarted. In response, Pakistani forces launched artillery strikes targeting Taliban positions along the border, including mortar sites and defensive installations.
Officials, who requested anonymity due to the sensitive nature of the situation, noted that some Taliban positions were later abandoned, resulting in reported casualties. However, these accounts remain unverified by independent sources.