Pakistan 'downs Afghan drones' after deadly cross-border strikes

Pakistan said on Friday it shot down several drones launched from Afghanistan into three Pakistani cities, hours after it carried out what it described as precision strikes inside Afghan territory that killed at least 133 fighters aligned with the Afghan Taliban.

This sharp escalation has drawn calls for restraint from major powers and the United Nations.

Pakistan’s Information Minister Attaullah Tarar said small drones were launched towards Abbottabad, Swabi and Nowshera but were intercepted by Pakistan’s air defence systems, adding there were no casualties or damage.

In a post on X, Tarar accused what he termed “Fitna al Khawarij terrorists” of carrying out the attempt, saying the incidents again demonstrated links between militant violence in Pakistan and the Afghan Taliban administration.

The drone incidents followed Pakistan’s launch late on Thursday of Operation Ghazab-lil-Haq, a large-scale military campaign triggered by renewed violence along the Pakistan-Afghanistan border.

Pakistani officials said the operation targeted forces aligned with the Afghan Taliban after what Islamabad described as unprovoked cross-border attacks.

Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif’s spokesperson for foreign media, Mosharraf Zaidi, said Pakistani counter-strikes were continuing and had killed 133 Afghan Taliban fighters, wounded more than 200 and inflicted further casualties in strikes on military targets in Kabul, Paktia and Kandahar.

He said 27 Taliban posts were destroyed and nine captured, while multiple military facilities — including two corps headquarters, three brigade headquarters, ammunition depots and a logistics base — were hit, along with more than 80 tanks, artillery pieces and armored vehicles.

Pakistan’s Defence Minister Khawaja Muhammad Asif said tensions had crossed a threshold. “Our patience has run out,” he said, describing the situation as an “open war” after overnight fighting in which both sides reported heavy losses.

Global powers urge restraint

International concern mounted as the crisis deepened. China said it was alarmed by the deteriorating security situation, with foreign ministry spokesperson Mao Ning saying Beijing was engaging through its own channels and stood ready to help de-escalate tensions.

Russia urged both sides to halt hostilities immediately and resolve differences through diplomacy, with its foreign ministry saying Moscow would consider mediation if requested, according to state news agency RIA.

Iran also offered to help facilitate dialogue, with Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi saying Tehran was prepared to support efforts to improve communication and cooperation between the neighbors.

At the United Nations, Secretary-General Antonio Guterres is closely monitoring the situation and expressed deep concern, his spokesman Stephane Dujarric said, stressing the need to respect international law and protect civilians.

Islamabad blames Afghan Taliban

Pakistan said Taliban fighters opened fire across several sectors of the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa frontier on Thursday, prompting what it described as a robust counter-offensive. Security officials said no Pakistani posts were captured or damaged during the exchanges.

“The armed forces are fully prepared to safeguard Pakistan’s sovereignty and territorial integrity,” Prime Minister Sharif said, adding that under the leadership of Chief of Army Staff and Chief of Defence Forces Field Marshal Syed Asim Munir, the military would respond decisively to any aggression.

‘Afghanistan does not seek war’

Zabihullah Mujahid, a spokesman for the Afghan Taliban, said Taliban forces had launched what he described as retaliatory operations against Pakistani military targets along the border, arguing that Afghanistan “does not seek war” but had been attacked.

In a post on X, he warned that continued Pakistani operations could lead to strikes deeper inside Pakistani territory, saying Afghanistan had the means to defend itself.

Background to the escalation

The latest violence follows Pakistani air strikes last week on camps belonging to the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) and Islamic State Khorasan Province (ISKP) inside Afghanistan, after a series of militant attacks in Pakistan, including a suicide bombing in Islamabad. Pakistani officials said more than 80 militants were killed. Islamabad has long accused the TTP of operating from Afghan soil, a charge Kabul denies.

Relations have deteriorated steadily since a wave of explosions in Kabul in October last year, followed by cross-border attacks and retaliatory shelling that caused casualties on both sides and led to the closure of key border crossings and suspension of trade. Multiple rounds of talks in Qatar and Turkey have failed to ease tensions.