Taliban Claims Strikes on ISIS Targets in Pakistan; Islamabad Rejects Allegations

Kabul/Islamabad (Terror Monitor) Afghan Taliban’s Ministry of Defence has claimed that its forces carried out airstrikes late Thursday night on alleged militant hideouts in Pakistan’s Balochistan and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa provinces.

In a statement posted on the social media platform X, the ministry said the operation was conducted by the Afghan Air Force. However, it did not provide details about the nature of the strikes or the weapons used.

According to the Taliban, the targeted locations inside Pakistan were previously used for planning and executing attacks against Afghanistan.

The statement further claimed that the sites struck were allegedly used as operational bases for attacks and coordinated activities with the help of “certain hostile intelligence networks.”

The Afghan authorities said the targeted areas included multiple sites in Balochistan’s Qilla Abdullah and Chagai districts, as well as an alleged ISIS-Khorasan facility in Qambar Khel area of Orakzai district in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.

Following these claims, Pakistan’s Ministry of Information and Broadcasting rejected the Taliban’s statement in a fact-check posted on X, calling the reports of drone strikes false.

The ministry said Afghan Taliban officials and affiliated media outlets had claimed that drone attacks targeted ISIS camps inside Pakistani territory. It added that a “simple drone” from Afghan territory entered Pakistani airspace near Shinkho area of Khyber and was immediately detected and shot down by Pakistan’s air defence system. Images of the drone were also released, while no casualties were reported.

Experts note that Afghanistan does not possess combat aircraft, but operates a limited number of military planes, helicopters, and drones. Taliban forces have previously used drones in border clashes with Pakistan.

Pakistan also rejected the Taliban’s claims, stating that no Afghan strikes on militant hideouts inside Pakistan had taken place and describing the allegations as false.

Relations between Pakistan and Afghanistan have remained tense in recent months, with Islamabad repeatedly accusing Kabul of sheltering militant groups responsible for attacks inside Pakistan, a charge the Taliban deny, insisting that militancy in Pakistan is an internal issue.

Last week, Pakistan carried out airstrikes in parts of Afghanistan’s border provinces, which the Taliban said killed at least 13 people, including 11 children, and injured 14 others.

Pakistani officials described the strikes as “targeted and precise operations,” claiming that 26 militants were killed in response to recent attacks in Pakistan’s northwestern regions.

In its latest statement, the Taliban Ministry of Defence said Afghanistan would not tolerate any threat to its security and stability and would use all available resources to eliminate such threats.