Kabul/Islamabad — Pakistani airstrikes on Afghanistan killed at least four people and injured 15 in Kabul and other areas on Friday, Afghan authorities said, as Islamabad confirmed targeting Taliban-linked facilities and alleged militant hideouts in a new cross-border offensive.
Kabul police spokesperson Khalid Zadran said in a post on X that the strikes hit a residential area of the Afghan capital, leaving at least four people dead and 15 injured, including women and children.
The Taliban government said Pakistan also bombed several locations across Afghanistan, including Kabul, Kandahar, Paktia and Paktika.
“The Pakistani army once again bombed Kabul, Kandahar, Paktia, Paktika and other areas. In some places it targeted civilian homes, resulting in the deaths of women and children,” Zabihullah Mujahid, spokesperson for the Taliban administration, wrote on X.
According to the Taliban, one of the strikes in southern Afghanistan hit a fuel depot belonging to the private airline Kam Air near Kandahar Airport.
The facility, which Kabul says supplies fuel to civilian airlines and United Nations aircraft, is located in the city where the Taliban’s supreme leader, Hibatullah Akhundzada, resides.
Pakistan confirmed the operation, saying its armed forces carried out airstrikes against Afghan Taliban military infrastructure and alleged terrorist hideouts.
Security sources in Islamabad said Pakistani forces targeted infrastructure of the Taliban’s 313 Corps in Kabul and destroyed the fuel depot at Kandahar airfield along with nearby logistical facilities.
The offensive also struck camps in Tarawo and Shirinaw, including in the eastern province of Paktia.
According to the same sources, the strikes were directed against positions linked to the Afghan Taliban and “Fitna al-Khawarij,” a term Islamabad uses to refer to the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), or Pakistani Taliban.
Pakistani officials said the cross-border campaign, dubbed “Operation Ghazab Lil Haq,” would continue “until the objectives are achieved.”
The Taliban government condemned the attacks and warned they would not go unanswered.
“The Islamic Emirate condemns this crime and this blatant aggression in the strongest terms, and, God willing, this injustice will not go unanswered,” Mujahid said.
The strikes come amid growing tensions between the two countries. Pakistan has repeatedly accused the Afghan Taliban of allowing the TTP to operate from Afghan territory and launch attacks inside Pakistan, an allegation Kabul has consistently denied.
The latest escalation follows Pakistani airstrikes carried out on Feb. 27, which marked the start of the current surge in cross-border hostilities that has already left dozens dead on both sides.
Earlier this week, Taliban Defense Minister Mohammad Yaqoob Mujahid warned that Kabul would retaliate if Pakistan bombed the Afghan capital again, adding that Afghan forces were prepared for a prolonged conflict.
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