Pakistan announced on Thursday, 24 September 2026, that it had carried out what it described as precision strikes on 10 sites inside Afghanistan, saying they had been used to store drones and launch them at Pakistani targets, in a fresh escalation between the neighbouring countries that threatens mediation efforts led by regional powers.
Pakistani Information Minister Attaullah Tarar said in a post on the X platform that the strikes had been carried out «in self-defence». His announcement came as the Pakistani air force continued to conduct raids on Afghan cities on Thursday.
Reciprocal accusations over drones
Pakistani officials had said that Afghan government forces, led by the Taliban movement, launched 8 drones and bombed border sites inside Pakistan after Pakistani forces thwarted what they described as an attempt by militants to infiltrate across the border. Tarar added that Pakistan’s air defence systems had detected drones launched from Afghan territory on Wednesday and neutralised them before they reached their targets.
He stressed that Pakistan «will neither accept nor tolerate any attacks launched from Afghan territory, whether by terrorist groups or by the Afghan Taliban regime itself». In southern Afghanistan, a Pakistani air strike targeted the city of Kandahar, historically the main headquarters of the Taliban leader.
Civilian deaths and militant casualties
A city resident said he heard the sound of a jet, followed by a powerful explosion and a fire breaking out in the city centre. The United Nations reported that at least 3 civilians had been killed in strikes targeting eastern Afghanistan. Pakistan, meanwhile, said its operations had killed 28 militants.
The border region experiences occasional strikes, but targeting Afghan cities with air raids is rare. Kabul did not immediately respond to the latest Pakistani strikes. However, Afghan government spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid had earlier condemned the raids on Afghan territory, describing them as «a repetition of the crimes».
Mujahid said «Pakistan’s military circles are trying to divert attention from their security failures by targeting Afghanistan», vowing that the Kabul government would respond to the Pakistani raids at the appropriate time and place. Kandahar and the capital Kabul had been bombed during the war that broke out between Afghanistan and Pakistan in late February.
Regional mediation fails to end escalation
The United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan, UNAMA, said weeks of reciprocal escalation had resulted in the deaths of hundreds of Afghan civilians. A ceasefire agreement was reached last March, but it did not lead to a lasting settlement between the two countries despite mediation efforts involving several states.
Islamabad accuses the Taliban government of harbouring fighters from the Tehrik-e Taliban Pakistan, whom it says have been carrying out attacks against it for years.
Afghan officials deny these accusations, saying instead that Pakistan harbours groups hostile to them and does not respect Afghanistan’s sovereignty.
