Kamal Ghorui
Pakistan said on Sunday that its forces carried out strikes on military facilities and “terrorist hideouts” in southern Afghanistan, in the latest escalation between Islamabad and the Taliban administration.Security sources cited by AFP said Pakistani troops targeted and “effectively destroyed technical support infrastructure and equipment storage facility in Kandahar,” the southern Afghan city that hosts the administration of Taliban supreme leader Hibatullah Akhundzada. Another strike reportedly hit a tunnel in Kandahar that authorities claim was used by both the Afghan Taliban and the Pakistani Taliban militant group Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), which Islamabad blames for a recent wave of attacks inside Pakistan.Residents in Kandahar told AFP they saw military aircraft flying over the city late at night and heard explosions. “Military planes flew over the mountain where there is a military facility, and an explosion followed,” one resident said, adding that flames were visible afterward.Locals also reported hearing an air strike in the border town of Spin Boldak, southeast of Kandahar. Authorities in Afghanistan’s eastern border province of Khost said clashes were also reported on Saturday night.Taliban government spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid told the agency that the strikes caused limited damage to civilian facilities. “The places they are talking about are far away from these two places,” he said, referring to claims about the targeted locations, while adding that a drug rehabilitation centre and an empty container in Kandahar had been affected.The strikes came a day after Pakistan said it had thwarted “drone attacks” launched from Afghanistan that were intercepted on Friday night. Officials said at least three locations in Pakistan were targeted, including the military headquarters in Rawalpindi, near the capital Islamabad.Pakistan President Asif Ali Zardari’s office said the Afghan Taliban had “crossed a red line” by targeting civilians and warned of retaliation.Islamabad launched a military operation against Afghanistan last month, saying it was targeting Islamist militants following attacks in Pakistan that it attributes to groups operating from Afghan territory. The Taliban government in Kabul has denied involvement and rejects accusations that Afghan territory is being used for cross-border militancy, while Pakistan maintains that its operations do not target civilians.Cross-border tensions have intensified in recent weeks, with repeated clashes disrupting trade and forcing residents near the frontier to leave their homes. According to the United Nations assistance mission in Afghanistan, at least 75 civilians have been killed and 193 injured in Afghanistan due to the clashes since February 26.
