Afghanistan’s Taliban government recently accused Pakistan of carrying out an air raid that resulted in the deaths of eight civilians. In response, the Taliban reportedly fired at Pakistani targets, causing injuries to seven individuals. The Taliban spokesperson, Zabihullah Mujahid, stated that Pakistani jets targeted civilian homes during the early hours of Monday morning. The alleged bombing occurred in the provinces of Paktika and Khost, which share borders with Pakistan.
The Pakistani Foreign Ministry refrained from commenting on the reported civilian casualties but stated that the Pakistan Air Force had conducted “intelligence-based anti-terrorist operations” against terrorist groups supported by the Taliban in the mentioned provinces. These groups, including the Hafiz Gul Bahadur Group and Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), are accused by Islamabad of using Afghanistan as a base for attacks on Pakistani territory.
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The Taliban disputes harboring the TTP. While Hafiz Gul Bahadur previously led a Taliban faction in Pakistan, his current ties with Kabul remain unclear.
In a recent incident on Saturday, a suicide bomber drove a truck filled with explosives into a military checkpoint in Pakistan’s Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province. A faction of the TTP claimed responsibility for this attack, which resulted in the deaths of seven Pakistani soldiers.
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Following Monday’s airstrikes, Taliban fighters reportedly targeted Pakistani military posts with heavy weaponry. According to Pakistani officials speaking to Al Jazeera, mortar fire from the Taliban caused injuries to three soldiers and four civilians.
“The Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan, which has a long experience of freedom struggle against the superpowers of the world, does not allow anyone to invade its territory,” the Taliban spokesman stated.
Pakistan, an ally of the United States, supported the Taliban with military and financial assistance before and during the US invasion of Afghanistan. However, this relationship has deteriorated over time. Pakistan has erected fences along its border with Afghanistan and deported hundreds of thousands of Afghan nationals in the past year. This has led to a series of retaliatory actions, including killings, along the border since 2022. Pakistan accuses the Taliban of harboring terrorists, while Kabul accuses Islamabad of infringing upon Afghan sovereignty.
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The Taliban government in Kabul, established in 2021 during the final phase of the US troop withdrawal, lacks official recognition from any country. The United Nations does not acknowledge the Taliban’s authority in Afghanistan, and the group has refused to participate in power-sharing negotiations in Qatar.