Afghanistan’s Taliban authorities carry out airstrikes against alleged Islamic State (ISIS) targets inside Pakistan, including facilities described as being used for planning attacks. The strikes reportedly hit locations in Pakistan’s Balochistan and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa regions. The action comes days after Pakistan conducted cross-border airstrikes into Afghanistan. Pakistan says it intercepted drones connected to the strikes and criticizes the Taliban for what it describes as misleading its public amid rising cross-border tensions.
Multiple reports describe a backdrop of heightened violence along the border after a period of relative calm, with intermittent clashes and airstrikes in recent weeks. Times of India adds that Pakistan’s earlier airstrikes in Afghanistan resulted in civilian deaths and notes condemnation from India, which characterizes the strikes as aggression. Together, the accounts present a cycle of tit-for-tat operations involving both drone and air strikes, with both sides trading allegations about the targets and impacts.
