Pakistan says it shot down 4 drones launched from Afghanistan amid renewed tensions

The Pakistani military on Wednesday said it shot down four rudimentary drones launched from Afghanistan, while Kabul claimed it “successfully” targeted alleged Daesh camps inside Pakistan.

The developments come amid the latest tensions between the two neighbors following a militant attack on a security facility in Pakistan’s southern port city of Karachi and subsequent airstrikes by Islamabad targeting alleged terrorist camps inside Afghanistan last week.

In a statement, the Pakistan army said its air defense network “immediately” detected and neutralized the hostile aerial platforms launched by Afghan security forces on Tuesday in the southwestern Balochistan province “as part of their patronization and support of terrorist outfits operating from inside their controlled territories.”

“If the Afghan Taliban continue to provoke Pakistan, they would receive a befitting response which would cost them heavily,” the statement added.

Afghan Defense Ministry’s deputy spokesperson Siddiqullah Nusrat said the Afghan Air Force carried out airstrikes on alleged Daesh camps inside Balochistan and the northwestern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, inflicting “heavy casualties and material losses” on the terrorist group.

In a statement posted on US social media company X, Nusrat said the airstrikes were carried out with “great precision” and resulted in no civilian casualties.

Relations between the two neighbors have been strained following multiple militant attacks in Pakistan in recent years, which have led to several border clashes.

Islamabad accuses Kabul of allowing militants to use its territory. Afghanistan denies the allegation.