Afghan forces target Pakistan in retaliation for deadly airstrikes

The Afghan Taliban’s defense ministry said on Saturday that its forces had hit several points inside Pakistan in retaliation for deadly airstrikes last week.

Last Tuesday, Pakistan launched an operation to destroy a training center and kill insurgents in Afghanistan’s eastern Paktika province. Dozens of people, mostly women and children, were killed in the strikes.

Comments from the Taliban’s defense ministry on Saturday, posted on social media platform X, said its forces targeted Pakistani points that “served as hubs and hideouts for malicious elements and their supporters who organized and coordinated attacks in Afghanistan.”

Ministry spokesman Enayatullah Khwarzami did not provide additional information about the attacks, including how they were carried out and whether there were casualties on either side.

However, the pro-Taliban media, Hurriyet Daily News, quoted ministry sources as saying that 19 Pakistani soldiers and three Afghan civilians were killed in the attacks. No one from Pakistan’s foreign ministry was available for comment.

People celebrated Afghanistan’s revenge in Khost province in the country’s southeast, according to organizer Rasheedullah Hamdard.

Thousands came out to show their happiness and reassure the Afghan army of their support against Pakistan. Khost is a neighbor of Paktika, which was targeted last week.

“They all shouted angry slogans against this action by Pakistan, like ‘death to Pakistan’,” Hamdard said. “All Afghans are brothers, so it is necessary for the nation and the government to show pride in their blood.”

Pakistani officials have accused the Taliban of not doing enough to combat cross-border militancy, which the Taliban government denies, saying it does not allow anyone to launch attacks against any country from Afghan soil.