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Afghanistan launches retaliatory strikes against Pakistan
Afghan authorities said they are conducting strikes against Pakistan in response to Pakistani airstrikes carried out.
Afghan authorities said they are conducting strikes against Pakistan in response to Pakistani airstrikes carried out days earlier, AP reported.
"To retaliate for the air strikes by Pakistan in Nangarhar and Paktia... the border forces... in the eastern zone started heavy attacks on Pakistani outposts," Wahidullah Mohammadi, spokesman for the military in eastern Afghanistan said.
On Sunday, Pakistan’s military conducted strikes along the Afghan border, stating that at least 70 militants were killed.
Afghanistan disputed the claim, saying the attacks killed dozens of civilians, including women and children.
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What are authorities saying?
The 2,611-kilometer (1,622-mile) border between the two countries, known as the Durand Line, has not been formally recognized by Afghanistan.
There was no immediate word on casualties, and Pakistan’s military did not issue an immediate response to the announcement.
However, Pakistani local authorities and two senior security officials said forces deployed along the Afghan border in the northwestern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province were responding to “unprovoked fire” by targeting Afghan positions from which the artillery shelling had originated.
According to officials from Pakistan’s local administration, the exchange of fire began in the Khyber district along the border before spreading to at least four other districts.
Tensions have lasted months
Tensions between the two neighbours have remained high for months. In October, deadly border clashes killed dozens of soldiers, civilians, and suspected militants. The violence followed explosions in Kabul that Afghan officials blamed on Pakistan. At the time, Islamabad carried out strikes deep inside Afghanistan targeting what it described as militant hideouts.
Although a Qatari-mediated ceasefire has largely held, the two sides have continued to trade fire sporadically across the border. Several rounds of peace talks in November failed to yield a formal agreement.
On Sunday, Pakistan’s military said it carried out strikes along the Afghan border, claiming at least 70 militants were killed.
Afghanistan rejected the claim, stating that dozens of civilians, including women and children, had died. The Defence Ministry said “various civilian areas” in eastern Afghanistan were hit, including a religious madrassa and multiple homes. It described the strikes as a violation of Afghanistan’s airspace and sovereignty.
