Pakistan says several Afghan drones intercepted, injuring 4, including 2 children

ISLAMABAD

The Pakistani military said Saturday that several rudimentary Afghan drones were intercepted in three locations across the country, leaving at least four people injured, including two children.

The "Afghan Taliban" launched several rudimentary drones Friday “to harass the people of Pakistan,” but the drones were intercepted through soft- and hard-kill measures and did not reach their intended targets, the Inter-Services Public Relations, the media wing of the Pakistan Army, said in a statement.

The military said the two injured children were in the southwestern city of Quetta in Balochistan. A civilian was injured in the Kohat district in the northwestern province of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and another in the garrison city of Rawalpindi, adjacent to the national capital of Islamabad.

“These attacks were aimed at inducing fear among the public and remind us of the terrorist mindset that drives the Afghan Taliban. On one hand, the Afghan Taliban project victimhood to garner global sympathy, while on the other hand, they actively target civilians through their terrorist proxies and drones,” the military said.

Islamabad warned that the “Ghazab-lil-Haq” operation would continue until the Afghan Taliban addressed Pakistan’s core security concerns.

Afghanistan, on the other hand, stated that its forces conducted operations along the Pakistan-Afghan border—also known as the Durand Line—in the eastern zones of Kunar and Nangarhar provinces.

One Pakistani military outpost was captured during the operation, while 14 soldiers were killed and 11 were injured, according to a statement from the Defense Ministry in Kabul.

Pakistan's Information Minister Attaullah Tarar, in a post on US social media company X, dubbed Kabul's claim as "false," asserting that "all the damages and losses" being incurred by the Afghan forces are updated by his ministry with "irrefutable pictorial and video evidence regularly."

Separately, India condemned Pakistani air strikes on Afghan territory, reiterating that Afghanistan’s sovereignty and territorial integrity "should be fully respected."

There was no immediate reaction from Islamabad to the statement from New Delhi.

The Afghan Defense Ministry claimed Friday that it retaliated against Pakistani airstrikes by targeting “strategic military centers and facilities” of the Pakistani army in the Kohat area of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.

Earlier, Afghan officials said at least four people were killed and 15 injured in new airstrikes they said were carried out by Pakistan and struck residential houses in Kabul.

Pakistan rejected the claim, however, saying its forces targeted “terrorist-affiliated installations” inside Afghanistan.

“Pakistan precisely targeted only those installations which directly or indirectly support terrorism from inside Afghanistan and terrorist camps. No civilian population or civilian infrastructure was targeted,” said Information Minister Attaullah Tarar.

With news of the new deaths in Afghanistan, the overall toll has risen to 99, including 13 soldiers and one civilian in Pakistan, and 13 soldiers and 72 civilians in Afghanistan.

According to UN data, 185 civilian casualties, including 56 deaths from indirect fire and aerial attacks, were reported in Afghanistan between Feb. 26 and March 5.

Relations between Afghanistan and Pakistan have deteriorated in recent weeks, with border tensions escalating last month and resulting in casualties and property damage.

Pakistan, which maintains it only targets terrorists, accuses Afghanistan of providing a haven to militants who attack its territory, while Kabul denies the charge.

Tarar said Islamabad has killed 663 Afghan Taliban operatives and militants, while Kabul claims 55 Pakistani soldiers have been killed, figures that could not be independently verified.