On Saturday, Pakistan announced that it had intercepted several drones launched by the Taliban from Afghanistan, amidst an escalating conflict between the two neighboring nations.
Some of these drones were aimed at Pakistan’s military headquarters located in Rawalpindi, close to the capital city of Islamabad.
Debris from the downed drones resulted in injuries to two children in the southwestern city of Quetta, as well as one civilian each in Kohat, south of Peshawar, and Rawalpindi.
The military stated, “Afghan Taliban launched a few rudimentary drones to harass the brave people of Pakistan. The drones… did not reach their intended targets.”
Furthermore, the military remarked, “These attacks were aimed at inducing fear in the public and remind us of the terrorist mindset which drives the Afghan Taliban.”
Pakistani President Asif Ali Zardari expressed his strong condemnation of the drone attacks on civilian areas, asserting that the Afghan Taliban had “crossed a red line” in a post on X.
“Pakistan will not tolerate its civilians being targeted. Afghan soil must not be used for terrorism against neighbors. Pakistan will defend its people,” he emphasized.
The Taliban had previously vowed to retaliate following Pakistan’s airstrikes on the Afghan capital, Kabul, during the night of Thursday and Friday, declaring that these attacks “would not go unanswered.”
According to the United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA), the Pakistani strikes resulted in the deaths of at least four civilians in Kabul and injured 14 others, including women and children.
Additionally, the strikes targeted a fuel depot in Kandahar Province, which is utilized by the Afghan civilian airline Kam Air as well as UN flights, according to the Taliban.
Pakistan’s Information Minister Attaullah Tarar asserted that the strikes were aimed at militant camps and “terrorist support infrastructure.” The military further claimed that the fuel depot was being used by the Taliban “for sponsoring terrorism.”
In February, Pakistan declared that it was engaged in an “open war” against the Taliban in Afghanistan, having long accused the group of sheltering militants from the Pakistani Taliban, also known as the Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP).
The Taliban government has denied allegations that Afghanistan serves as a base for cross-border militancy.
Meanwhile, Pakistan has maintained that it does not target civilians.
According to UNAMA, at least 75 civilians have been killed in Afghanistan and over 190 injured since the onset of the conflict.
