Taliban launch border strikes on Pakistan amid escalating tensions

Afghanistan's Taliban regime announced it carried out strikes targeting sites along the border with Pakistan, resulting in injuries to several individuals in Pakistan's southwestern Balochistan province. In response, Pakistan's military stated it had downed four rudimentary drones and issued a stern warning that any further provocations would be met with a "befitting response."

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would receive a befitting response

The BBC has not yet been able to independently verify the claims of the attack. These cross-border strikes come shortly after Pakistan launched its own airstrikes into Afghanistan on Sunday, which the UN reported killed 28 civilians. This exchange has reignited tensions in the region after a period of relative calm, despite a ceasefire agreement reached in October following weeks of deadly clashes.

Pakistan has long accused Afghanistan of harboring militants who conduct attacks on Pakistani soil, an allegation the Taliban government denies. Kabul, in turn, accuses Islamabad of launching unprovoked attacks that result in civilian casualties. Pakistan maintains its operations exclusively target militants.

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cowardly act

Afghanistan reported that Pakistan's Sunday attack hit civilian homes, claiming 36 civilians were killed and over 160 injured. Kabul described the action as a "cowardly act" and an "atrocity." Pakistan's information minister, Attaullah Tarar, stated that a ground operation and air strikes targeted militant hideouts in Afghanistan's Paktia, Paktika, and Kunar provinces, resulting in the deaths of 29 militants in retaliation for "recent terrorist attacks against innocent people."

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atrocity

Intermittent border clashes and airstrikes in the area have led to dozens of deaths in recent months, according to officials from both countries. Previous incidents include clashes in February that killed dozens, a Pakistani strike on a Kabul drug rehabilitation center in March, and Pakistani airstrikes in early June that killed 26 militants, with Afghanistan's Taliban government reporting 13 additional deaths, mostly children.

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recent terrorist attacks against innocent people