Pakistan bombed a fuel depot of private airline Kam Air near Kandahar airport and struck residential areas in Kabul and Nangarhar province on Friday, the ruling Taliban said, escalating the neighbours’ worst conflict in years despite Chinese attempts at mediation.
The overnight strikes killed six people, including children, and injured more than a dozen.
Government spokesperson Zabiullah Mujahid condemned the attacks and vowed they «will not go unanswered.» The targeted depot supplies fuel to civilian airlines and United Nations aircraft, raising fears of wider hostilities in a region already affected by the US-Israeli war on Iran.
The strikes come after a relative lull in Pakistani air attacks following Chinese mediation, including direct messages from President Xi Jinping urging a halt to fighting. Ground clashes along the 2,600-kilometre border had also decreased despite intermittent fighting.
Pakistani security sources said the airstrikes targeted four militant hideouts in Kabul, Kandahar and Paktia province, including the oil storage facility at Kandahar airport. Afghanistan responded with drone strikes on a Pakistani military base in Kohat, causing significant damage.
Residents reported hearing explosions around midnight, with bricks falling and dust choking the air.
The UN reported that 56 civilians have been killed and 128 injured in Afghanistan since the fighting began, displacing 115,000 people. The Taliban reported over 110 civilian deaths. Pakistan rejects these tolls, insisting its strikes target only militants and their support infrastructure.
China has played a role in easing tensions, with Islamabad and Beijing engaged in ongoing dialogue over the Afghan conflict.
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