Military tensions between South Asian neighbors Pakistan and Afghanistan have reached a perilous high following Pakistani airstrikes and precision drone operations targeting three eastern and southern provinces inside Afghanistan, resulting in at least four casualties.
On Thursday (September 24, 2026), chief Afghan government spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid confirmed the casualties resulting from the strikes, condemning Islamabad’s actions as a blatant violation of Afghan sovereignty. The offensive marks Pakistan’s second major cross-border aerial operation inside Afghan territory within a single week.
Confirming the military action, Pakistan’s Information Minister Attaullah Tarar stated that armed Afghan drones illegally crossed into Pakistani airspace on Wednesday, characterizing the act as an unprovoked infringement on Pakistan’s territorial integrity.
According to Islamabad, the Pakistan Armed Forces exercised their legitimate right to self-defense by launching precision airstrikes and drone strikes across 10 designated military and drone launching targets spanning Kandahar, Paktia, and Khost provinces in Afghanistan.
Concurrently, Pakistani security sources reported that air defense networks intercepted, tracked, and neutralized at least eight Afghan drones approaching the Torkham border vicinity and Kohat airspace in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province before they could reach their intended targets.
In a statement released on social media, Zabihullah Mujahid asserted that the Pakistani military is deflecting from its internal security failures by targeting Afghan territory. Recalling an earlier strike on Monday in Kunar and Paktika that left three civilians dead, Mujahid warned that Kabul and the Afghan people would not remain silent against persistent military aggression, cautioning that continued escalation would yield severe repercussions.
