The Japan Times - Taliban govt says Pakistan strikes kill 4 civilians in Afghanistan

The latest targets included the southern province of Kandahar, seat of the Taliban government's supreme leader, Hibatullah Akhundzada.

Islamabad's information minister said Pakistani forces had struck 10 targets in Afghanistan -- without specifying where -- accusing its neighbour of allowing "terrorist sanctuaries" on its soil.

Taliban government spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid said in a post on X that "the Pakistani military regime once again committed aggression and conducted aerial bombardments against Afghanistan's Kandahar, Paktia and Khost provinces".

"Four civilians were martyred in this criminal act of aggression," he added, vowing to deliver an "appropriate response".

The raids come days after a deadly bombardment in eastern Afghanistan and nearly a week after a militant attack on a police headquarters in northern Pakistan that killed at least 31 people.

A Kandahar resident told AFP on Thursday they heard a jet, then a large explosion, followed by a fire in the centre of the city.

Hours later, Pakistan's Information Minister Attaullah Tarar confirmed "precision aerial and drone strikes", in a post on X.

"The strikes were deliberate, precise, calibrated, and proportionate, and strictly limited to identified military objectives directly linked to the attempted attacks against Pakistan," he said.

At least three civilians were killed in the strikes on eastern Afghanistan earlier this week, the United Nations reported. Pakistan said 28 militants were killed.

On Thursday, local officials told AFP that Pakistan had struck eastern Afghan provinces overnight.

In Paktia, jets bombed the Afghan army's 203rd Mansouri Corps, said the provincial governor's spokesman Mohammad Rasool Ahmadi, without providing any information on casualties.

Airstrikes also targeted Khost province without causing casualties, said Mustaghfa Gurbaz, the governor's spokesman there.

- 'Escalate the situation' -

While violence has repeatedly flared in the border area, strikes on Afghan cities are rare.

Both Kandahar and the capital Kabul were hit when Afghanistan and Pakistan went to war in late February, with weeks of violence killing hundreds of Afghan civilians, according to the UN mission UNAMA.

The neighbouring countries had agreed a ceasefire in March, but international mediation has failed to produce a lasting resolution.

UNAMA said in July that cross-border armed violence between Taliban government forces and Pakistani security forces killed at least 499 civilians and wounded 1,216 others between October 2025 and June 2026.

Security issues have proved a sticking point in any push for de-escalation, especially Pakistan's demand that Afghanistan curb the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) militant group.

Islamabad accuses the Taliban government of sheltering militants behind a surge in attacks, particularly the TTP, which has waged a violent campaign against Pakistan for years.

"For years, Pakistan has repeatedly conveyed its grave concerns to the Afghan Taliban regime and its interlocutors regarding the continued presence of terrorist sanctuaries and their support networks on Afghan soil," Tarar said on X Thursday.

"Instead of dismantling these networks... the Afghan Taliban regime has chosen to escalate the situation through hostile drone operations against Pakistan."

Afghan officials deny the charge and counter that Pakistan harbours hostile groups and does not respect its sovereignty.

A group linked to the TTP has claimed the attack on a police headquarters in northern Pakistan on Friday that killed at least 31 people.

M.Matsumoto--JT