Explosion, Gunfire as Afghan Forces Shoot at Aircraft Over Kabul

Months of cross-border clashes have flared up since Thursday as Afghanistan launched an offensive along the border and Pakistani forces responded from the border and from the air.

“Anti-aircraft fire is being directed at Pakistani aircraft in Kabul,” Taliban government spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid said on Sunday, referring to gunfire firing overhead. he said.

Pakistan acknowledged on Friday that it had bombed key cities including Kabul and Kandahar, home of Afghanistan’s supreme leader.

Afghan authorities accused Pakistan of killing civilians in several attacks, but Islamabad did not comment on the matter.

Construction workers in rural southern Kandahar were hit by two airstrikes on Sunday, killing three people, the site manager said.

“Everything went dark before our eyes,” said Enamullah, 20, who gave only one name. “I came from Kabul just to earn a piece of bread.”

Afghan officials said Thursday’s border attack was a response to earlier airstrikes that killed civilians, which Pakistan said targeted militants.

Deputy spokesman of the Afghan government, Hamdullah Fitrat, said that in addition to those killed in Kandahar, 30 civilians died in the fire opened by Pakistan in the eastern Khost, Kunar and Pktika provinces since Thursday.

It is difficult to independently verify each party’s loss claims.

-‘Everyone went out’-

An AFP journalist in Jalalabad, on the road between the Afghan capital Kabul and the border, heard a jet and two explosions on Saturday. Afghan security forces said they shot down a Pakistani warplane and captured its pilot, but Islamabad rejected this as a “complete lie”.

On Saturday, residents of Pktika told AFP that clashes were continuing, while some people in Khost had fled their homes near the border.

63-year-old Muhammed Resul, who reached another district, said, “The bombardments started, children, women, everyone went out.”

“Some had no shoes, some had no cover,” he told AFP.

While diplomatic efforts failed to achieve a ceasefire, Saudi Arabia and Qatar attempted to halt the conflict. China said it was “working together” with both countries and appealed for calm.

Allison Hooker, the undersecretary of state for political affairs, wrote to X after her meeting with her Pakistani counterpart that the United States supports “Pakistan’s right to defend itself against Taliban attacks.”

Islamabad accuses Afghanistan of failing to take action against militant groups carrying out attacks in Pakistan, which the Taliban government denies.

Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), a militant group that has stepped up attacks in Pakistan since 2021 when Taliban officials returned to power in Kabul, has claimed responsibility for many attacks.

Analysts noted that this week’s escalation was the first time Pakistan focused airstrikes on Afghan government facilities; This was a sharp change from previous operations that he said targeted militants.

Mosharraf Zaidi, spokesman for Pakistan’s prime minister, told AFP that gunmen he said were linked to the Pakistani Taliban attacked a checkpoint in the northwest. No one immediately claimed responsibility for this attack.

“Pakistan’s immediate and effective response to the aggression continues,” Zaidi said on Friday, adding that nearly 300 Afghan soldiers and militants had been killed.

– ‘Open war’ –

Pakistan’s information minister said on Saturday that 37 locations across Afghanistan have been hit by airstrikes since the start of the operation.

Islamabad had previously announced that 12 of its soldiers were killed.

Afghanistan’s deputy spokesman, Fitrat, said that more than 80 Pakistani soldiers were killed and 27 military outposts were captured.

The Afghan government had previously announced the death toll of its soldiers as 13.

The defense ministry in Kabul also said it had carried out airstrikes on Pakistani territory in the past two days and observers said they may have been drones.

Islamabad declared “open war” against Taliban officials on Friday, while the Afghan government called for “dialogue” to resolve the conflict.

This month’s violence was the worst since October, when more than 70 people were killed on both sides, and land borders between the neighbors have been largely closed since then.

Following the ceasefire reached under the mediation of Qatar and Türkiye, several rounds of negotiations were held between Pakistan and Afghanistan last year.

Saudi Arabia intervened this month after repeated violations of the initial ceasefire, brokering the release of three Pakistani soldiers captured by Afghanistan in October.