KABUL: Afghan military authorities said Thursday they had begun carrying out strikes against Pakistan in retaliation for Pakistani airstrikes in Afghanistan's border area days ago.
A statement issued by the media office of Afghanistan’s military corps in the east said “heavy clashes” had begun Thursday night “in response to the recent airstrikes carried out by Pakistani forces" in eastern Afghanistan.
“In response to the repeated rebellions and insurrections of the Pakistani military, large-scale offensive operations were launched against Pakistani military bases and military installations along the Durand Line,” Afghan government spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid said in a post on X Thursday night.
The two countries’ 2,611-kilometer (1,622-mile) long border is known as the Durand Line, which Afghanistan has not formally recognized.
There was no immediate information on casualties and no immediate response from Pakistan’s military to the announcement.
However, Pakistani local authorities and two senior security officials said Pakistani forces deployed along the Afghan border in the northwestern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province were responding to “unprovoked fire” by targeting the Afghan positions from which the artillery fire originated.
According to Pakistani local administration officials, the exchange of fire began in the Khyber district along the border and later spread to at least four other districts.
Tension has been high between the two neighbours for months, with deadly border clashes in October killing dozens of soldiers, civilians and suspected militants. The violence followed explosions in Kabul that Afghan officials blamed on Pakistan. Islamabad, at the time, conducted strikes deep inside Afghanistan to target militant hideouts.
A Qatari-mediated ceasefire between the two countries has largely held, but the two sides have still occasionally traded fire across the border. Several rounds of peace talks in November failed to produce a formal agreement.
On Sunday, Pakistan’s military carried out strikes along the border with Afghanistan, saying it had killed at least 70 militants.
Afghanistan rejected the claim, saying dozens of civilians had been killed, including women and children. The Defence Ministry said “various civilian areas” in eastern Afghanistan had been hit, including a religious madrassa and several homes. The ministry said the strikes were a violation of Afghanistan's airspace and sovereignty.