The Defense Ministry of the Afghan Islamic Emirate announced that its air force carried out nighttime strikes targeting what it described as sites belonging to “ISIS” militants in the Pakistani provinces of Balochistan and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, claiming that those sites were being used to plan attacks on Afghan territory with the help of intelligence agencies it described as hostile.
This announcement comes amid continued escalation between Kabul and Islamabad since late February. The details of this latest strike could not be independently verified in available news sources at the time of reporting, while no Pakistani comment on it had yet been issued.
Confrontations between the two neighboring countries broke out in late February 2026, when Afghan Taliban forces launched a cross-border attack on Pakistan in response to Pakistani airstrikes, after which several rounds of internationally sponsored peace talks failed to reach a lasting truce. Islamabad accuses Kabul of harboring militants who carry out attacks inside Pakistan—foremost among them the “Pakistani Taliban” (Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan), a movement separate from but allied with the Afghan Taliban—while the Afghan authorities deny these accusations.
Pakistan had justified its strikes as precise operations targeting hideouts and camps of the “Pakistani Taliban” and of the “ISIS-Khorasan” branch, following a series of bombings on its territory, including the bombing of a Shiite mosque in Islamabad in early February that left dozens dead and was claimed by “ISIS-Khorasan.”
Since then, the two sides have exchanged airstrikes and drone strikes across the border. In early March, the Afghan Defense Ministry announced it had carried out air operations against several Pakistani military installations, warning that any new violation of its airspace would be met with a swift and decisive response, while Islamabad continued to describe its operations as a counterterrorism campaign targeting militant safe havens.
اشترك لتصلك أبرز التغطيات والقصص الحصرية من فريق الأسطل مباشرةً إلى بريدك.
