Pakistan military says it intercepted 4 drones from Afghanistan
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Residents clear rubble from their home at the site of a Pakistani air strike in Afghanistan’s Kunar province on June 29.
PHOTO: AFP
ISLAMABAD – Pakistan’s military said on July 1 it had intercepted four drones sent from Afghanistan the previous day, the latest incident in months of conflict between the two neighbours.
The Taliban government had vowed a response to deadly Pakistani air strikes on eastern Afghanistan in late June and the Afghan Defence Ministry said in a statement overnight it had carried out aerial operations targeting militants in Pakistani border provinces.
Pakistan’s military said Afghan Taliban forces on June 30 had “launched four rudimentary drones across the border in Balochistan... the hostile aerial platforms were immediately picked up by Pakistan’s robust air defence network”.
“If the Afghan Taliban continue to provoke Pakistan, they would receive a befitting response which would cost them heavily,” it added.
The Afghan Defence Ministry posted on social media platform X that it had carried out “air strikes” in Balochistan and north-west Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province that it said caused casualties among ISIS members.
The Taliban military forces lack a fully functional air force but have used small drones, targeting areas primarily in the border regions of Pakistan, experts say.
Pakistan, which denies its territory is used by ISIS, did not mention any casualties and accused the Afghan government of misleading its people, saying the drone attacks were “effectively thwarted”.
The regional ISIS branch, ISIS-Khorasan, has claimed responsibility for attacks in Afghanistan in recent years that have killed civilians.
The incident is the latest flare-up of conflict between the neighbours whose relationship has been fraught since 2021, when the Taliban government took power in Kabul, and follows a war that erupted in February 2026.
After a deadly weekend attack in Karachi, Pakistani air strikes killed dozens of people in eastern Afghanistan, with Islamabad saying on June 29 it targeted militants but the Afghan government reporting civilian casualties.
The United Nations confirmed the strikes killed 28 civilians and wounded dozens more. Pakistan has not commented on civilian casualties and said 29 militants were killed in the strikes and ground operations.
The months of conflict that have killed hundreds has centred on Islamabad’s accusations that the Taliban government shelters militants behind a surge in attacks, particularly Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan, which has waged a violent campaign against Pakistan for years.
Afghan officials deny those assertions and counter that Pakistan harbours hostile groups and does not respect its sovereignty. AFP
