Pakistan Strikes Afghan Base After President Warns ‘Red Line’ Crossed

Pakistan has launched strikes on a military facility in Kandahar after drones believed to be sent by Afghanistan’s Taliban government targeted civilian areas and military installations inside Pakistan.

The attacks on Saturday came hours after Pakistani President Asif Ali Zardari condemned the overnight drone strikes and warned that Kabul had “crossed a red line by attempting to target our civilians”.

Pakistan’s military said the drones, described as rudimentary and locally produced, were intercepted before reaching their intended targets. However, falling debris reportedly injured two children in the southwestern city of Quetta and wounded civilians in Kohat and Rawalpindi.

A security source told the AFP news agency that airspace around the capital, Islamabad, was temporarily closed after the drones were detected.

Pakistani officials said the facility targeted in Kandahar had been used to launch the drone attacks and served as a base for cross-border rebel activity.

The exchange marks the most serious escalation so far in tensions between the two countries. The conflict has been building since late February, when Pakistan launched operations against fighters from the Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan, also known as the Pakistan Taliban, whom Islamabad says are sheltering in Afghanistan.

Pakistan has also accused the Taliban authorities in Kabul of harbouring militants linked to Islamic State – Khorasan Province, an affiliate of ISIL operating in the region. The Taliban government has denied both allegations.

The latest drone attacks came after Pakistani air strikes on Kabul and eastern Afghan provinces overnight from Thursday into Friday. According to Afghan officials, the strikes killed four people in the capital, including women and children, and two more in eastern areas.

Residents in the Pul-e-Charkhi neighbourhood of Kabul described homes being destroyed during the strikes. One survivor said he was trapped beneath rubble and believed he was taking his “last breath” before neighbours rescued him.

Pakistani aircraft also struck a fuel depot belonging to Kam Air near Kandahar airport. An airport official said the depot supplied humanitarian organisations including the United Nations and the International Committee of the Red Cross, and insisted there were no military installations at the site.

Afghanistan’s Ministry of Defence claimed its forces had captured a Pakistani border post and killed 14 soldiers, an assertion Islamabad rejected as false. A spokesman for Pakistan’s prime minister accused the Taliban of “weaving fantasies” instead of addressing militant activity on Afghan territory.

The United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan says at least 75 civilians have been killed and 193 injured since the violence intensified on February 26, including 24 children. The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees estimates that about 115,000 people have been displaced by the fighting.

The crisis is unfolding as the wider region faces instability linked to the ongoing war involving Iran, the United States and Israel. Wang Yi, China’s foreign minister, has urged both Pakistan and Afghanistan to resolve their differences through dialogue, warning that further military action could deepen the crisis.