Afghan Taliban launch strikes on border with Pakistan as tensions rise

The Taliban regime in Afghanistan has reported carrying out drone strikes on targets along its border with Pakistan, reportedly injuring several civilians in Pakistan’s southwestern Balochistan province. Pakistan’s military said it had shot down four rudimentary drones and warned that any further provocation would be met with a “befitting response.” The BBC has not been able to independently verify the attack.

Pakistan’s strikes came after it launched its own airstrikes on Afghanistan on Sunday, which UN reports say killed 28 civilians. The two countries had a ceasefire in place since October, but have been engaged in intermittent clashes and counter‑attacks in recent months.

Pakistan has long accused Afghanistan of harbouring militants that carry out attacks on its soil, a claim the Taliban government rejects. In turn, Kabul says Islamabad has carried out unprovoked attacks that kill civilians, while Pakistan insists it only targets militants. After the Pakistani airstrikes on Afghan territory, the Afghan authorities described the attacks as an “atrocity” and claimed that 36 civilians died and more than 160 were injured.

A Pakistani information minister said 29 militants were killed in a ground operation along the border, in response to “recent terrorist attacks against innocent people.” No figures have been independently confirmed. In February, clashes between the two countries left dozens of people dead; in March, a Pakistani strike on a drug rehabilitation centre in Kabul killed hundreds. Earlier in June, Pakistani airstrikes killed 26 militants and the Afghan Taliban said 13 people, mostly children, were also killed.

Several people were reportedly injured in Pakistan's southwestern Balochistan province.