Pakistan rejects Afghan Taliban claim of drone strikes

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan on Friday rejected claims by the Afghan Taliban regime that it had carried out drone strikes on alleged Daesh camps in border areas of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Balochistan, saying security forces had instead intercepted and shot down an intruding drone inside Pakistani airspace.

In a statement shared via its Fact Checker account on X, the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting said the Afghan Taliban regime and its associated media outlets had falsely claimed responsibility for targeting alleged militant hideouts in Pakistan.

“The claims are false as usual,” the ministry said, adding that terrorist camps, including those linked to Daesh and other organisations, were operating from within territory controlled by the Afghan Taliban regime.

It said a rudimentary drone launched from across the border had entered Pakistani airspace in Khyber district and was immediately detected and neutralised by the Pakistan Air Force’s air defence system.

The ministry further accused the Afghan Taliban regime of issuing “fake and nefarious statements” to divert attention from what it described as its patronage of militant groups operating across the region, including Daesh and other organisations.

The statement came in response to Kabul’s claim that it had conducted airstrikes on alleged Daesh hideouts in Pakistan’s border regions of Balochistan and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.

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The Afghan defence ministry had earlier posted on social media that it had targeted militant positions across the border on Thursday night.

Tensions between Pakistan and Afghanistan have persisted in recent years amid a rise in cross-border militant activity, particularly in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Balochistan.

Islamabad has repeatedly urged Kabul to take action against groups it says operate from Afghan soil, while the Taliban authorities have denied providing shelter to such organisations.

Both countries have held multiple rounds of talks, but a lasting agreement on counterterrorism cooperation has yet to be reached.