Afghanistan’s defense ministry said Friday the military had targeted multiple Islamic State (IS) group hideouts in neighboring Pakistan, which Islamabad denied.
Pakistan and Afghanistan have engaged in deadly cross-border fighting in recent months, with bilateral relations worsening since the Taliban authorities took power in Kabul for a second time nearly five years ago.
The Afghan defense ministry said its forces had conducted “last night... a series of airstrikes against ISIS hideouts in Pakistan’s Balochistan and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa provinces,” using another name for the Islamic State group.
The ministry added that these locations had been used “to plan and coordinate attacks against Afghanistan, and had previously served as operational bases for planning and launching several deadly attacks.”
The regional IS branch, Islamic State-Khorasan, has claimed responsibility for attacks in Afghanistan in recent years that have killed civilians.
The defense ministry did not comment on the type of airstrikes that were carried out when contacted by AFP.
The Taliban authorities lack a fully functional air force but have used locally produced drones, targeting areas primarily in the border regions of Pakistan, experts say.
Islamabad’s information ministry said the Pakistani military had “neutralized” one “rudimentary drone” in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province.
But it said Afghanistan’s “claims are false.”
“Terrorist camps including that of Daesh (IS) and more than two dozen other terrorist organizations are factually located, run and patronized from inside the territories under control of the Afghan Taliban regime,” the information ministry said.
Pakistan’s military and the prime minister’s office did not comment further when contacted by AFP.
In March, Pakistan said “rudimentary” drone attacks launched by Afghanistan “crossed a red line” and wounded several civilians in border provinces.
Hundreds of Afghan civilians were killed in the first three months of this year in fighting between Afghan and Pakistani forces, United Nations records show.
Pakistan generally does not comment on civilian casualties and says its strikes on Afghanistan target militants.
Islamabad accuses the Taliban government of sheltering militants behind a surge in attacks, particularly the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) which has waged a violent campaign against Pakistan for years.
Afghan officials deny the charge and counter that Pakistan harbors hostile groups and does not respect its sovereignty.
