Kabul tries to pin blame for ‘drone strike’ on Pakistan
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KABUL: At least three people were killed and seven wounded in two separate incidents in Afghanistan’s Nangarhar and Khost provinces, which Afghan authorities claimed were strikes carried out by Pakistan.
There was no official word from Islamabad, and Afghan authorities did not provide any evidence of Pakistan’s involvement in the incident, either.
Islamabad has repeatedly warned Kabul to prevent its soil from being used to stage attacks in Pakistan, and that it is fully capable of targeting terrorists who carry out such attacks.
Quoting Afghan authorities, the Reuters news agency reported on Thursday that three children were killed and several others wounded when ‘drones’ hit the home of one Haji Naeem Khan in Khost’s Spera district, near the border with North Waziristan.
AFP photographs from Spera showed people standing outside a badly damaged home in the Lahori Village.
Meanwhile, Afghan officials claimed that four sons and two wives of a man named Shahsawar were among those injured when his house was destroyed in Nangarhar’s Shinwar district.
The Taliban foreign ministry said in a statement that it strongly condemns the violation of Afghanistan’s airspace, and that the bombing of civilians such irresponsible actions will inevitably have consequences.
It said that a protest note was formally handed to Pakistan’s ambassador, Ubaid-ur-Rehman Nizamani, during a meeting in Kabul on Thursday.
Pakistan has targeted terrorist camps in Afghan territory in the past: most recently in December last year, when Pakistan jets bombed positions in Paktika province, targeting members of the proscribed Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP).
At the time, the Foreign Office had avoided directly commenting on the claim, but admitted that Pakistani forces conducted “operations in border areas to protect the people of Pakistan from terrorist groups”.
A number of cross-border infiltration bids have also been foiled. In April of this year, ISPR claimed killing at least 54 terrorists who were trying to cross into North Waziristan.
Then, earlier this month, at least 50 attackers were killed trying to cross from Afghanistan into Balochistan’s Zhob district.
Recent negotiations between the TTP and tribesmen in border districts have also laid bare the reality of their chain of command, as the militants repeatedly sought time to consult their leaders in Afghanistan.
Published in Dawn, August 29th, 2025
