KABUL, Afghanistan: Afghanistan’s Taliban government said Thursday that Pakistan had carried out two drone strikes on Kabul the previous day, just before the two neighbors announced a ceasefire following days of fighting that killed dozens in both countries and injured hundreds more.
The truce Wednesday brought at least a temporary halt to the deadliest clashes between the neighbors since 2021, when the Taliban seized power in Afghanistan following the collapse of the Western-backed government as the US and NATO forces were withdrawing after 20 years of war.
There was no immediate response in Islamabad to the latest accusations from Kabul and it was not immediately clear how this would affect the ceasefire, which was welcomed Thursday by the United Nations as it urged both sides to bring a lasting end to hostilities.
Pakistani officials, speaking on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss ongoing operations, had earlier told The Associated Press that Pakistani forces had targeted militant hideouts on Wednesday.
Khalid Zadran, a spokesman for the Kabul police chief, told The Associated Press that the strikes hit the city on Wednesday afternoon. He said the drones hit a civilian house and a market. Zadran did not give casualty figures, but hospital doctors said earlier that five people were killed and dozens were injured.
