By Saeed Shah
ISLAMABAD/KABUL/NEW DELHI (Reuters) -Afghanistan’s Taliban government accused Pakistan on Friday of carrying out airstrikes on its territory and warned of “consequences” as Islamabad said it was taking action against militants.
Eleven more Pakistani soldiers were killed on Friday in a clash with Islamist militants in the Tirah area close to the Afghan border, according to Pakistani security officials. Islamabad says militants of the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan group operate from Afghanistan, a charge denied by Kabul.
The Taliban administration blamed Pakistan for airstrikes in Kabul, the capital, late on Thursday and in the eastern province of Paktika around midnight.
“This is an unprecedented, violent and provocative act in the history of Afghanistan and Pakistan,” an Afghan Defence Ministry statement said. “If the situation escalates further following these actions, the consequences will be the responsibility of the Pakistani military.”
According to the Taliban, there were no casualties from the airstrikes.
A Pakistani security official said a vehicle used by the leader of the TTP, Noor Wali Mehsud, was targeted in the Kabul airstrike. It was unclear if he survived.
The Afghan Defence Ministry declined to answer queries about Mehsud, pointing to its statement, which did not mention him.
PAKISTAN VOWS TO DO WHATEVER IS NECESSARY
Islamabad has said its patience with Kabul is running out, without acknowledging or denying carrying out the airstrikes.
Lieutenant General Ahmed Sharif Chaudhry, the Pakistani military spokesman, “noted” the reports of the strikes.
“To protect the lives of the people of Pakistan, we are doing, and will continue to do, whatever is necessary,” Chaudhry told a press conference. “Our demand to Afghanistan: Your soil must not be used for terrorism against Pakistan.”
The TTP has been fighting to overthrow the Islamabad government and replace it with a strict Islamic-led system of governance. It has had a close relationship with the Afghan Taliban, which inspired the establishment of the TTP.
Pakistan accuses regional big power adversary India of supporting the TTP, through Afghanistan. India denies such accusations, terming them “baseless”.
The airstrikes coincided with a rare visit to India by a Taliban leader – Foreign Minister Amir Khan Muttaqi.
His trip resulted in an announcement by India on Friday that it would upgrade ties with the Taliban administration – giving a boost to the diplomatically isolated group – by reopening its embassy in Kabul shut since the Taliban seized power in 2021.
(Reporting by Saeed Shah, Mohammad Yunus Yawar, Mushtaq Ali and Shivam Patel; writing by Saeed Shah and Sakshi Dayal; editing by Mark Heinrich)
