Afghanistan's Taliban government said a wave of Pakistani air strikes had killed four civilians in the latest escalation between the two sides. The strikes hit provinces including Kandahar, the Taliban's base of power, sources told the BBC. A resident told news agency they heard a jet, followed by a large explosion and then a fire in the city.
Pakistan said its forces had struck 10 targets in Afghanistan, without specifying their locations, adding the strikes were "strictly limited to identified military objectives". It's the second wave of Pakistani air strikes on Afghan territory in the past week, and comes after a deadly attack on a police facility in Pakistan on 18 September. In a statement, the Taliban said there would be an "appropriate response" following the attack, while Pakistan said any further "provocative act" would be responded to.
Taliban government spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid said the attacks were in Afghanistan's Kandahar, Paktia and Khost provinces. In Paktia, an official said jets had bombed the Afghan Armed Forces' 203 Mansouri Corps, which is controlled by the Taliban, without providing any information on casualties. In Khost, a spokesman said houses were damaged in the strikes, with no casualties reported.
Abdullah, a local eyewitness, told news agency the strikes happened around midnight. "People were shouting, and there was panic all around," he said. "Afterwards, the village elder arrived and called out to the houses, asking if anyone was killed.
Thankfully, no one was killed." Another local, Salamat Khan, told that "there is no military base here, nor are there any military personnel", adding "there are only the homes of ordinary civilians". Zabihullah Mujahid labelled the attack as "reckless, careless, and hostile", and said it "will have adverse consequences for the Pakistani military". Pakistan's Information Minister Attaullah Tarar said the strikes were "deliberate, precise, calibrated, and proportionate, and strictly limited to identified military objectives directly linked to the attempted attacks against Pakistan".
The Taliban and Pakistan had enjoyed three months of relative calm, until fighting reignited following an attack on a mosque at a police compound in north-western Pakistan last week, which killed at least 31 people, according to AFP. A group linked to Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), which has waged a violent campaign against Pakistan for years, claimed the attack. Islamabad has accused Kabul of harbouring the TTP.
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