Explosions rocked Kabul as the Afghan Taliban government said it was responding to Pakistani air attacks, marking a severe escalation in cross-border clashes.
KABUL: Explosions were heard in the Afghan capital on Sunday, with the Taliban government stating they were responding to aerial attacks from Pakistan. A defence ministry spokesman said “air defence strikes were carried out against Pakistani aircraft in Kabul”.
The renewed violence follows an Afghan offensive launched along the frontier on Thursday. Pakistani forces have retaliated with strikes on the border and from the skies.
Earlier, Afghan residents and officials reported troops from both countries battling along the border. Fighting accompanied multiple strikes, including one targeting the former US air base at Bagram.
North of Kabul, air strikes “hit Bagram air base”, according to a resident. A second witness described a dawn raid as “very terrifying”, noting strong explosions with smoke and fire.
Provincial spokesman Fazl ul Rahim Maskin Yar said Pakistani jets “attempted to bomb” the base but caused no casualties or damage. Pakistan acknowledged bombing Kabul and Kandahar on Friday but has not commented on Sunday’s strikes.
Late Sunday, Afghan officials claimed retaliatory strikes on multiple bases in Pakistan, including in Rawalpindi, causing “significant damage”. Pakistani reports of such attacks were not immediately available.
“Any further violations of our airspace or acts of aggression by hostile Pakistani elements will be met with a swift, decisive, and proportionate response,” the Afghan Ministry of Defence posted on X.
Before dawn, AFP journalists in Kabul heard an explosion followed by successive gunfire. Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid said anti-aircraft fire was being shot at Pakistani planes.
Drones were also heard in the border province of Khost. In Jalalabad city, an AFP photographer saw a jet.
The Afghan government’s deputy spokesman, Hamdullah Fitrat, said Pakistani fire had killed 36 civilians across multiple provinces since Thursday. Islamabad has not commented on the claim.
In Kunar’s provincial capital Asadabad, an 18-year-old said his brother had been killed. “He was martyred near the mosque while trying to leave,” Sajid told AFP.
Multiple residents in Afghanistan’s Khost and Nangarhar provinces told AFP the two sides were engaged in sporadic clashes on Sunday afternoon. On Saturday, displaced residents near the frontier demanded international pressure on Pakistan.
“We demand from the international community and the whole world to put pressure on Pakistan to stop the war,” said 46-year-old Javed.
Diplomatic efforts by Saudi Arabia and Qatar have so far failed to secure a truce. Islamabad accuses Afghanistan of failing to act against militant groups that carry out attacks in Pakistan.
The Taliban government rejects these accusations. Many recent attacks have been claimed by the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), a militant group that has stepped up assaults since 2021.
This week’s escalation marks the first time Pakistan has focused air strikes on Afghan government facilities, analysts noted. Previous operations targeted militant groups.
Pakistan’s information minister, Attaullah Tarar, said 46 locations across Afghanistan had been hit since its operation began. He claimed 415 Afghan soldiers had been killed.
Islamabad said earlier 12 of its soldiers had been killed. Fitrat, however, claimed more than 80 Pakistani soldiers were killed and 27 military posts captured.
The Afghan government earlier put its own troop death toll at 13. Casualty claims from both sides are difficult to verify independently.
The recent violence is the worst since October fighting killed more than 70 people on both sides. Land borders between the neighbours have been largely shut since.
Several rounds of negotiations followed a ceasefire brokered by Qatar and Turkey last year.
The Sun Malaysia
