Pakistan rejects Afghan Taliban’s ‘nefarious’ claims of cross-border strikes

• Air defences shot down rudimentary drone in KP: info ministry.
• Over dozen terrorist camps active in Afghanistan: ministry.
• Afghan Taliban’s claim of airstrikes “false as usual”: ministry.
  

Pakistan on Friday refuted claims by the Afghan Taliban regime regarding drone strikes on outlawed Daesh camps in border areas of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Balochistan, saying security forces had shot down a rudimentary drone that intruded inside the country.

In a statement on its Fact Checker account on X, the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting said that the Afghan Taliban regime, through various propaganda mouthpieces and official statements, claimed to have targeted alleged Daesh camps in border areas of KP and Balochistan using rudimentary drones.

“The claims are false as usual. Terrorist camps including that of Daesh and more than two dozen other terrorists organisations are factually located, run and patronised from inside the territories under control of Afghan Taliban regime,” it added

The ministry clarified that a rudimentary drone launched by the Afghan Taliban regime intruded inside the Pakistani airspace in KP’s Khyber district, saying it was immediately identified and neutralised by the Pakistan Air Force’s air defence system.

The ministry further said that the Afghan Taliban regime “is used to issue such fake and nefarious statements” in its attempt to cover up its patronisation of terrorism being waged in neighbouring countries through terrorist groups such as Daesh, Fitna al-Khawarij and Fitna al-Hindustan.

The rebuttal comes after Kabul falsely claimed it had launched “airstrikes” on hideouts of outlawed Daesh in two Pakistani provinces.

The Taliban government’s defence ministry claimed in a post on X that hideouts in Balochistan and KP, both of which share a border with Afghanistan, had been targeted by the Afghan air force on Thursday night.

Pakistan witnessed a surge in terror activities, particularly in its KP and Balochistan provinces, since 2021, when the Afghan Taliban came into power.

After repeated diplomatic efforts failed to persuade Kabul to act against militants operating from its territory, Islamabad launched “Operation Ghazab lil-Haq” earlier this year, killing scores of Taliban operatives and allied militants.

Last October, border clashes erupted after the Afghan Taliban and affiliated militants launched unprovoked attacks on Pakistani border posts. Over 200 Taliban fighters and allied militants were killed, while 23 Pakistani soldiers were martyred defending the country.

Despite several rounds of talks, both countries have been unable to reach an agreement, largely due to the Afghan Taliban regime’s reluctance to take action against terrorist outfits.