Four civilians were killed after Pakistan launched overnight airstrikes in Afghanistan, the Taliban administration said, as the worst conflict in years between the neighbours continued to escalate.
Taliban spokesperson Zabihullah Mujahid said Pakistani aircraft struck a fuel depot of the private carrier Kam Air near the Kandahar airport.
“This company supplies fuel to civilian airlines as well as to United Nations aircraft,” he said.
Pakistani forces also attacked the capital Kabul as well as the provinces of Paktia and Paktika, he added, claiming that homes were targeted in some places.
The government warned the renewed aggression would "not go unanswered".
Kabul police spokesperson Khalid Zadran confirmed that at least four civilians, including children, were killed in the city and 15 people were injured.
Pakistan and Afghanistan have been targeting each other's military installations since late February, when Kabul said it struck Pakistani posts in response to attacks along the border.
The Pakistani military has said its operations are aimed at Islamist and ethnic insurgents responsible for carrying out attacks in the country. Kabul denies sheltering them.
Both sides claim to have inflicted heavy losses in what has become their deadliest fighting in years, a conflict Islamabad has described as an ”open war” with the neighbour.
Pakistani military operations killed at least 56 civilians, including 24 children, between 26 February and 5 March, according to the UN mission in Afghanistan.
Before the latest attack, fighting along the contested 2,600km border had tapered off.
The strikes came a day after China's special envoy, Yue Xiaoyong, arrived in Pakistan and met with his counterpart Mohammad Sadiq. He had arrived in Islamabad after meeting Afghan government officials in Kabul.
Mr Sadiq, Pakistan's special envoy for Afghanistan, said on X that he and Mr Yue “discussed threats posed by terrorist groups like Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan and the East Turkestan Islamic Movement to Pakistan and China respectively”, and agreed on making collective efforts to ensure lasting peace and stability.
Since the Afghan Taliban returned to power in 2021, the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan has intensified attacks inside the country and along the border. Islamabad says its military operations will continue until Kabul takes verifiable steps to curb the group and other militants operating from its territory.
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