Pakistan strikes 10 sites in Afghanistan after drone attacks
Islamabad says strikes were precise and targeted sites used to launch and store drones
Dubai: Pakistan carried out aerial and drone strikes on 10 locations across Afghanistan early Thursday, saying it was retaliating for an attempted drone attack from Afghan territory a day earlier.
Information Minister Attaullah Tarar said the strikes targeted locations used for launching and storing drones and described the operation as an exercise of Pakistan’s right to self-defence.
The strikes were “deliberate, precise, calibrated and proportionate” and restricted to identified military targets linked to the attempted attacks on Pakistan, Tarar said in a post on X.
Pakistan said eight drones launched from Afghanistan entered its airspace near the Torkham border and Kohat on Wednesday. Security sources said Pakistani air defences detected, tracked and shot down the drones before they could reach their intended targets.
Tarar described the incursion as a violation of Pakistan’s sovereignty and accused the Afghan Taliban of escalating tensions rather than acting against militant groups that Islamabad says operate from Afghan territory.
“Pakistan will neither accept nor tolerate attacks emanating from Afghan territory,” he said, warning that any violation of the country’s sovereignty would receive an “immediate and decisive response”.
Tarar later released footage that he said showed Thursday’s strikes, saying the targets were connected to terrorist attacks inside Pakistan as well as Wednesday’s drone incursion,l Dawn reported.
Tensions rise along border
The latest exchange follows another round of Pakistani strikes along the border on September 21. Islamabad said those attacks targeted militant hideouts following a major attack at the old Police Lines in Kohat that killed 23 people and injured about 100.
Pakistan said more than 28 militants were killed in the September 21 strikes.
Tensions have remained high between Islamabad and Kabul, with Pakistan repeatedly accusing Afghanistan’s Taliban authorities of allowing Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) and other militant organisations to operate from Afghan territory.
Kabul has faced growing Pakistani demands for what Islamabad describes as “concrete and verifiable” action against such groups.
Also Read: Pakistan denies strikes on Afghanistan
Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar raised the issue at a meeting of the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation this week, saying Pakistan was concerned about the presence of more than two dozen militant groups in Afghanistan.
Pakistan has also told the UN Security Council that it would respond in self-defence to threats originating from Afghan territory when necessary and in accordance with international law.
A UN Security Council-mandated monitoring report covering December 16, 2025 to June 9, 2026 said the Afghan Taliban’s continued support for the TTP had contributed to an increase in the frequency and lethality of attacks in Pakistan, while noting that Kabul had taken some initial steps to restrain the group.
Tarar said Pakistan remained committed to regional peace and dialogue but warned that this should not be interpreted as weakness.
“Any further provocative act by [the] Afghan Taliban,” he said, would receive a “firm and resolute response”.
